The Legend of Jin
by lpfreek
Summary: Guy ends up in the Avatarverse with partial amnesia. Heard it before? Yeah. He hasn't exactly seen the sequel. Follow him as he slowly attempts to unravel the mystery of his appearance in the body of a dead 9 year old while he keeps up with the two-bit villains that keep trying to ruin his day. OC-SI.
1. Chapter 1 - A Legend is Born

I do not own The Legend of Korra. I make no money off this story and am writing it purely for the purpose of getting the idea out of my head and possibly improving my writing skill, in that order of priority. Readers will no doubt find dialogue, quotes and some elements of the plot that might belong in other books, anime, cartoons or TV series. I am not a very creative person.

This story contains instances of alcohol use, foul language occasional drug use, violence and mentions of sexual intercourse(non graphic). The MC is male (and firmly heterosexual if that matters). I'm not very familiar with the use of ratings on this website but I'd suggest you not read this unless you are 17. I believe that according to ESRB this should be rated as M.

This fanfiction story is not canon. It is in fact, fanfiction. Thus I will be exercising my artistic (not) license with the characters and plot of Legend of Korra. If you find yourself asking a question of the theme _"But why didn't he do it this way"_ or "that's not how she's supposed to act" then one of two things happened. I probably didn't think of it and am an ignorant, ignorant person or just don't agree with you. Feel free to voice your idea or opinion but either way, chances are I'm not changing my story to satisfy one person.

One more thing, the Main Character (basically an OC Insert) will become super-powerful, super duper powerful, ultra super powerful. I don't want to write a story where the main character just watches others do cool stuff. Because face it, in a real self insert the MC would just complain all day about there being no internet or fanfiction. So yes, the MC becomes uber powerful and godlike and destroys the world (jk). He'll have weaknesses but will make sure he doesn't get put in those situations as far as possible. But seriously, if you want a painfully weak MC, feel free to watch some anime. I'm sure you'll find a few where the MC has powerful girls around him that do all the work while he sits around and faps.

Furthermore, speaking as an absolute beginner at writing, most readers will no doubt find that this unedited and unbeta-ed excuse for fanfiction is riddled with horrid spelling mistakes, confusing grammatical errors, and frustrating plot holes and thus is not fit for human consumption.

You have been warned!

Now that my Disclaimer/Rant/Warning is over,

Let the Legend begin.

 **Chapter 1 - A Legend is Born**

 **THE TIME HAS COME**

A loud voice echoed in the dark, startling me from . . . well, whatever I was doing. What _was_ I doing? Strange. Why can't I remem-

 ***** *** REQUIRED**

Louder this time, the voice made me wince. Wait a sec! Why didn't I wince? My eyes! Where ARE **MY EYES**!?

 **YOU **** ** VITAL**

The voice grew louder with strange chorus-like chants in the background. I felt a strange force growing within me as the chants grew louder. A force that made my . . . everything . . . twist in pain. It was _ripping_ me apart!

 **YOU WILL BE THE L*****

The indistinct chants grew louder in the background but the voice grew softer. The pain had grown _excruciating_ , but not enough to distract me from my disconcerting lack of arms or legs . . . or body for that matter.

 **YOU WILL NOT BEGIN ANEW**

The voice had grown even softer and had taken a strange melancholic tone. I was almost unable to make out what was being said as the garbled chants became louder and louder. The pain began to recede. Warmth filled me as I felt happy. I can't remember the last time I felt this good. Why can't I remember? The warm joy gave way to a sinking fear. An intense heat built up inside me as fear gave way inexplicably to boiling rage.

The pain kept receding as I felt more and **more**. Disgust, hate, sadness and so on and on. Cycling over and over until I couldn't take it. Make it stop! Make it **stop**!

That's it! I'm. Getting. Out. **Now**.

As if responding to my will, the chants ended. Their remnants echoed in the darkness as the pain and emotions I was forced to feel simply disappeared leaving me empty, hollow. All of a sudden, I felt a jerk behind my navel and was dragged backwards. Then I fell, faster and faster until -

" **Ghuahh**!"

I gasped loudly and shot up, eyes wide and fists clenched. Trembling, I took a look around and exhaled shakily as I wiped the sweat from my face. I was utterly _soaked_ in sweat and . . . salt water?

' _Why the fuck am I under a bridge?'_

Resting my head between my knees, I struggled to calm myself down, still shivering from the strange nightmare. My breathing gradually slowed as I realized that I still had eyes and wasn't a disembodied spirit.

' _What a weird dream.'_

I opened my eyes once more and looked up to get a better look at the bridge I had been sleeping under. And what a strange bridge it was. It was a pretty small one, but provided passage across a small brook. Strangely enough, it seemed to be sculpted out of a single stone of stone, the surface seemingly homogenous showing no signs of the blocks of stone that should have been used to build it.

' _Naturally occurring maybe?'_

I dismissed the idea. Sharp edges, even hand rails. No way this was a natural bridge.

 **Feeeeeeeed meeeeee.**

"Screw the bridge", I muttered, placing my hand over my stomach. Food first, architectural analysis of bridge never.

' **SEAPORT CITY'**

Turns out I wasn't too far from civilization. I walked past the ratty signpost that swung loosely from a pillar of stone and into the city.

' _What sort of architecture is that? Indian? No! Chinese maybe?'_

Suffice it to say that architecture isn't really really not my strong suit. The buildings were simple, made of stone and wood. No bricks, no cement, and most importantly not even the slightest hint of electricity being used.

Not for the first time, I wondered where I had ended up.

' _What the hell? Even rural areas should have electric lighting. Is this some kind of prank?'_

I cautiously looked around, paying attention to the corners of buildings for any unnatural protrusions. Nope. No cameras. Not a prank then.

I didn't drink often but when I did I tended to go all out. It appeared that overindulging had gotten me neck deep in skunk-rat shit this time.

' _Wait a sec. What's a skunk-rat? Nevermind.'_

I eyed a man a little further ahead, sitting with his legs out stretched and his back to the wall. He pulled out a cigarette and held it between his lips. He looked at me, smiled lopsidedly and and snapped his fingers. All of a sudden a spark lit up on the end of his cigarette.

' _Huh. No sleeves. Wonder how he pulled that off.'_

I walked towards him to ask him about the trick when I spotted two men on the opposite side of the road dressed in identical uniforms: loose black pants, conical hats and identical emblems on their long flowy, green shirts. They had a baton attached to the side of their pants. No guns.

' _Asian Police? The clothing seems old fashioned. Like centuries old. Asian equivalent of the a historic immersion festival of some sort? Like a Renaissance Fair? Do they have those?'_

I made my way towards them tentatively. I didn't want to spook them and get walloped. They say racism is dying down, but hey . . . I had no clue where I was. Doesn't hurt to be careful.

I paused as I got closer to them. Something was off.

' _I'm like Gulliver in Brobdingnag. What are they, giants?'_

I was not amused at the errant thought. I was no NBA star but at an above average 5'10", there weren't too many people that could tower over me like that. Now I was really worried. I watched as another man wearing a tattered tunic and a loose pair of pants walked past them carrying a large sack.

' _What is he supposed to be, a pretend peasant?'_

I frowned when I noticed that the peasant was comparable in height to the two pretend cops. Apparently gigantism was the norm here.

Gathering my courage, I decided to approach the two pretend cops. Hopefully they didn't insist on speaking in Chinese. Mandarin or whatever. People at renaissance fairs tended to be stubborn to the point that you felt like shooting them . . . or yourself. I pulled myself together and focused on what I'd say to them.

' _Hey! Could you help me out? I'm think I'm lost. My name is … My name is . . . my name . . .'_

I swallowed.

My heart began pounding against my rib cage.

With growing fear, I looked down at my hands. My eyes widened when I saw the dainty fingers and twig like arms. I turned my palm over and gasped when I saw relatively smooth skin where there should have been darkened calluses from years of semi professional fighting. Panic _overwhelmed_ me.

I ran. Ran until I collapsed.

' _I'm tired already?'_

I stood back up on trembling legs and looked into dirty window as I caught my breath.

' _What the fuck?'_

I started shaking. In the mirror was not the grown adult with a dark skin tone and short, cropped hair that I had come to expect. Instead, a fair skinned, baby faced, long haired child, no older than 7 or 8 stared back at me.

Recognising the onset of a panic attack, I stumbled away from the window, into a nearby alley and fell on my ass so I wouldn't draw attention.

' _Focus. What happened last night? Think!'_

Nothing. No matter how hard I tried, the only thing that came to me was a splitting headache. Exhausted from the panic attack and hunger, I slipped into a fitful sleep.

" _Useless, utterly_ _ **useless**_ _", he screamed as he lunged at me. I fell backwards, crawling away until I got a table between me and him. This was bad. He had yelled, taunted and even smacked me around a bit. But he had never attacked me outright like this before. It was almost like he wanted to kill me._

' _What pushed him over the edge? The fool's been in denial for so long', I thought as I cowered behind the table._

" _No signs. None. How can you not be a bender? Why?" He screamed at me, as he swayed back and forth, his face twisted with malice and pulled a knife out of his vomit and dirt stained tunic, an obvious sign that he had been thrown out of a bar after puking, a common occurrence in the recent weeks._

" _Your mother was one, that bitch Niya! That's why I took you from the south pole. You took after your trash father didn't you? Died in a bandit raid didn't he, that high and mighty bastard.", He muttered with spittle flying from his mouth before he looked back at me._

 _"And you, Hao! You're going to die just like him", he yelled out, almost frothing at the mouth in madness, his bloodshot eyes glinting in the dark._

 _This was not news to me. The imbecile was prone to sleeptalking. I had known for months that he wasn't really my father. To think that he would snap before I managed to put my plan to escape into practice._

" _With a failure like you I'll never get my revenge. You! This is all your fault!" he screamed once more and to my shock, he leaped towards me, right over the table, brandishing the knife. I ducked and watched in shock as my father, no . . . Kidnapper, sailed over me. His rage fueled momentum taking him through a window, and -_

 _ **SPLAT**_

 _\- to his death, four stories below. In his intoxicated state, he hadn't bothered to cover his head and roll onto his feet like he had taught me. He landed head first, his neck snapped on contact with the unforgiving ground._

 _I stared through the broken window for almost a minute before I snapped back into action._

' _The coal plant next door! They just left, the furnace should still be hot enough.'_

" _Wake up!" came a voice from behind me. I turned to face it._

" _Hey KID! WAKE UP!"_

"WAKE UP!"

I woke with a start, looking up to find the two actors . . . policemen from yesterday eyeing me suspiciously. It was still nighttime. I must have been asleep for a few hours. A sudden pain shot through my head as if something was trying to claw its way out of my skull from the inside.

I was starting to remember.

' _Fucking hell! Aspirin! Advil! I'd sell my soul for some Tylenol right about now.'_

I didn't let my thoughts show on my face. At least, I hope I didn't. Somehow taking my mind of the the sudden influx of two sets of conflicting and confusing memories, I got up to speak with them. I couldn't let them know anything was wrong. Not until I knew what the _hell_ was going on!

"What are you doing here? What's your name kid?" asked one of the men his hand on his belt next to a black baton which was clipped on.

I wasn't certain if the cop was getting ready to wallop me over the head or if he was trying to hold up his pants. Fatass. I resisted the urge to quip.

' _No need to get my ass whooped.'_

I hadn't quite adjusted to the new knowledge in my head but among the numerous tit bits of jumbled memories floating around in my probably concussed head was my name. Or rather . . . _**a**_ name. Charles - aka Charlie. No wait! Was it Cheng Hao?

"I'm Cha . . .Cheng Hao. I was hiding and fell asleep. Thanks for waking me up", I said as I rubbed my head. I wasn't really feigning the nervousness.

' _Pity, I don't think 'Charlie' is going to fly around these parts.'_

I wasn't certain that 'Charlie' was really my name but it was the only name that held any real meaning to me, a connection to who I was before I ended up . . . well, here.

' _I suppose I'm the sentimental type then.'_

"What are you doing sleeping out here?" Apparently the cops didn't quite buy it, looking over Lee's ragged clothes in suspicion.

"I was playing hide and seek with Zulon and Riya, took a bit of a tumble and ruined my clothes. I must have fallen asleep while hiding from Zulon." I answered quickly making up a few names that sounded normal.

' _Normal? According to which set of memories?'_

The officers still seemed to be on the fence.

' _C'mon! I'm just a kid. Just move on already. I need to sort out my head. What the hell is up with the suspicion?'_

"Thanks for waking me up officers, with any luck I can sneak in before dad wakes up. He'll be furious if he finds out I was out at night" I said, leaving before they could react.

"Hey! Wait! Stop!" The cops tried chasing me. But I was small, quick and somehow, I knew the roads well. I lost them in less than a minute.

' _Finally, some peace. Now to solve my memory issues.'_

Once outside the city, I began to calmly analyze my memory of the previous night and the other memories that were threatening to bore a hole in my skull.

I obtained mixed results.

I couldn't remember too many details about my past life, if that was what it was. Some of those memories were clear and vivid: college life, practicing martial arts on a semi professional level, my time learning meditation in a South Indian Ashram . . . or was it a buddhist temple in Tibet? No wait, I think that was me practicing Northern Shaolin in Henan.

' _Damnit! Who am I? Why am I here?'_

I couldn't remember anything specific details about my family: what they looked like, their names. My parents were doctors of some sort. I could remember that much. When I focused hard I might have caught a glimpse of their faces. But it could have been my imagination. These memories didn't exactly have a stamp on them reading "Pay attention you semi-amnesiac dumbass, these are from past life". That would have made it so much easier.

' _Sigh, If only.'_

I thought back to my most recent nightmare, the one the two acto - policemen woke me from. It was no dream; it was a memory, a very recent one at that. But it wasn't one I could place among the few I had of my childhood as the son of two doctors.

Like I said, I had few vivid memories of Charlie's life. Obedient child, Honor student. Took Karate as a kid. Prone to panic attacks. He was a dutiful son, majoring in Engineering until his parents passed on when he was in college. He sank into martial arts as an outlet and began competing when he found he was good at it. The order of the memories blurred after a certain point. Some sort of chronological confabulation as a result of whatever gave me those memories. He died . . .

' _How did he . . . I . . . die?'_

' _Wait a sec. More importantly Cheng Hao? That's a guys name right?'_

The thought alarmed me something fierce as I shoved my hands down my pants, drawing a nasty look from a mother who quickly covered her child's eyes. Relief flooded me (not that sort of relief, Morons) as my hands settled around my block and tackle. Miniaturized but not absent.

' _Phew! Back to the problems with my head. Er . . . my other head.'_

Now that I could concentrate again. I focused on the other set of memories. Cheng Hao's memories, on the other hand, were clearer, more vivid. He was an unlucky child. The man in the first memory I encountered in the form of the dream was my, no, Cheng Hao's father.

Well, not really.

The man was actually a criminal named Koga who had kidnapped Cheng Hao and posed as his father for the better part of 9 years. Koga's story was a familiar one. I . . . Hao had heard it several times.

Eight years ago, Koga lived in Republic City. He wasn't a hardened killer nor was he a member of one of the many organised gangs that ruled the underbelly of the sprawling metropolis but he was the brains of a pickpocketing ring that was independent of the Triads. It was only a small outfit that targeted rich tourists from the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation but it payed well. Unfortunately his small group ran afoul of the Agni Kai Triad who killed Koga's brother for muscling in on their turf.

The "weak dogs of the Republic City Council", ie . . . the Law Enforcement in Republic City, were either unable or unwilling to prove that the Agni Kais were responsible. Enraged at their incompetence, Koga nursed a grudge against the RCPD, the Council and organised crime in Republic City. A few years later the Council offered a Triad member amnesty in return for testifying against their boss. Koga's grudge grew and eventually consumed him when the boss who had been the one to kill his brother walked from lack of evidence.

Koga was never a particularly powerful bender, no he was the brains of the operation. He didn't need to be powerful to intimidate orphans into working for him. He had his brother for that. However even the weakest bender can turn his gift into a dangerous weapon, given the right circumstances and more importantly, the right motivation. Koga used hit and run tactics to terrorize the denizens of Republic City, attacking Triad members, civilians and Law enforcement almost indiscriminately. His method of choice: levitating a ball of water around his target's head and drowning them in their sleep by forcing water down their nose and into their lungs.

He eventually went too far. He was caught in the act of murdering one of the Council members, an Air Acolyte named _'Sun Mai'_. In the end the "evil" Avatar Aang used some "Spirit Mumbo Jumbo" to take away his bending, preventing him from exacting "righteous vengeance" on the Agni Kai Triads.

Bereft of his bending and money Koga quickly became a pariah even after he managed to escape from Capital City prison in the Fire Nation. None of his prior contacts would help him and none of the other gangs in Republic City were willing to take him in. The Avatar's ability to take away bending had left a stigma on him. No-one was willing to take the risk of inciting the Avatar's wrath by by helping him.

Instead of letting the matter rest and forging a new life for himself, Koga came up with the harebrained scheme of kidnapping and training a powerful waterbender to avenge his brother for him.

' _And Cheng Hao just so happened to be born to a powerful waterbender around the time Koga arrived at the South Pole to scope out the talent. Joke was on him though.'_

How did Hao learn all of this?

It might have been the loss of losing his brother, shame for the what he did went he rampaged through Republic City, the trauma of losing his bending or even possibly a genetic predisposition for sleep disorders or mental illness.

Whatever the reason, the result was that Koga was a chronic sleeptalker. The fact that Koga rented out a tiny apartment with paper thin walls meant that Cheng Hao basically grew up knowing that his life was a lie.

I pitied the boy. Koga had raised him without a hint of affection, trained him until he collapsed every day and literally beaten the art of street fighting into him. There were no birthday gifts, no friends to hang out with and no school for Cheng Hao. Koga was clearly still unhinged after the jailbreak. It was a miracle that he had remembered to teach the boy to read or write. The years went by without Hao showing any signs of waterbending but Koga persisted, believing that the boy he kidnapped and spent years grooming was merely a late bloomer. Of course, his denial didn't last forever. One day, Koga snapped, resulting in the events I had dreamt, that had actually played out only a few days back. Hao had lived under a bridge ever since.

As I tried making sense of the memories floating around in my head, I was debating whether it was a good idea to trust them.

On one hand Avatar was a cartoon. A Cartoon. One Charlie . . . I loved watching as a kid and wished was real but a cartoon nonetheless.

' _Sigh, if only there was a sequel.'_

On the other hand, it was clear from Cheng Hao's memories it seemed as if I was actually in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, something I had trouble wrapping my mind around.

It was only when I remembered the bum on the sidewalk lighting his cigarette with a snap of his fingers that I believed.

So I knew where I was . . . er, kinda. But the memories brought another crisis to the forefront in my mind. An identity crisis, to be precise.

' _Who am I? Am I Cheng Hao with memories of a past life? Or am I Charlie, transmigrated into the body of Cheng Hao?'_

It was dawn when I was done sorting my memories. For the time being, that is. I had a lot more soul searching to do before I managed to figure stuff out. I had settled on using the name Cheng Hao but realised that it was more likely that I was actually Charlie who had transmigrated to the body of Cheng Hao who had died of hypothermia under the bridge.

I was still a little distant from both identities but I suppose that was the point. Whatever had sent me here, clearly had no intention of sending me back. _They_ or _It_ had somehow managed to dull or erase any memories that held any emotional significance to me. My family and friends removed from my mind to avoid any motivation to find a way to return to my old world.

Another problem came to mind.

' _Should I go to the cops about my current situation?'_

Hell No!

Telling the police about or anyone about my past life was basically signing my own death sentence. From Hao's memories, it became clear to me that there were _few_ decent people in this city. Seaport City was well known for being one of the cesspools of the Earth Kingdom. Bandits, smugglers, escaped convicts and the like flocked towards this city where Law Enforcement was routinely bought off or threatened into silence.

The governor sat cosily in the pocket of whichever criminal group gave him the most handouts and one out of five people you walked past on a good day were involved in some form of smuggling or drug dealing. The rest probably used the drugs or the goods that were being smuggled into the city. The city was far enough from Ba Sing Se that the Earth Kingdom didn't really bother taxing the city. The lawlessness and lack of proper governance was probably one of the reasons that Koga moved here. No-one would bother to look twice at a single father with the ridiculously high crime rate in the city. This was also why Cheng Hao made the hasty decision to burn the body instead of going to the cops. He probably did not want to risk spilling his guts to a corrupt cop and getting blackmailed into a life of crime.

' _Smart kid. Too bad he wasn't smart enough to avoid dying of hypothermia by sleeping under a bridge in winter. Or perhaps it's good? Whatever.'_

I snapped out of it when I noticed the sun peaking over the horizon. I was still not completely sure if I was an adult who transmigrated or if I was a 9 year old boy with memories of a past life. The contrasting memories in my head were jarring to say the least.

Despite the fact that I knew reincarnation and retaining memories was possible in this world (the Avatar cycle seemed to be based on that) I tentatively assumed that I was probably Charlie in Cheng Hao's body. I certainly seemed to be thinking like an adult. I put aside my identity dilemma for the time being and began plotting out my course of action.

While it was probably by design, without any detailed memories of my previous life, I didn't really care about getting back to my old world. The _Voice_ I had heard before I was unceremoniously shoved into this body seemed to indicate that I was needed here for some reason. I would need to find that reason eventually. Finding out how I got here and getting back _all_ of my memories would be nice too. But before that, I'd need a more short term plan.

Firstly, I needed to get out of this city.

For one thing, living amongst rapists, murderers and drug dealers disgusted me as did the general state of cleanliness in the city. STDs were about as common as air, sewers frequently overflowed with the high tide, leaking sewage onto the roads. More importantly however, Koga's death still hung over my neck like a guillotine. I was in the clear for now and it was very unlikely that someone would notice that Koga was missing as he usually kept to himself apart from the occasional bar fight. But eventually someone would notice him missing and the first person they'd come find was me. I was probably listed as Koga's next of kin somewhere. I think.

Chances were that he wouldn't be missed until the end of the month when the landlady paid a visit to collect rent. That means that I had less than six days to get out the city.

Secondly, I needed to find my mother. From what I could remember she was from the Southern Water tribe. That's great! But I have to get to the South Pole first. Where the FUCK is that? How do I FUCKING get there? Where the FUCK am I? I NEED a **FUCKING MAP**.

' _Calm down! Deep breath! Calm doowwwn.'_

I forcibly slowed my breathing once again until I was calm. I remember being a twitchy kid, prone to panic attacks in my past life. Meditation, yoga and martial arts fixed that. Punching the crap out of a sandbag or person seemed to help too.

"Not a wholesome outlet" some might say. "Fighting only alleviates the symptoms. You have more deep seated issues", some might say. "Yoga and meditation have no basis in science, you need more pills" some might say.

Ahh, fuck 'em. Whatever works. Karate and meditation did. Pills did not.

Besides, anxiety medication in this era was probably something primitive, like Opiates or something.

' _Hehe. On second thoughts maybe I should give medication another go.'_

"Concentrate", I muttered aloud. I had digressed. As I regained my focus I thought about my next step.

' _Let's break this down.'_

Koga wanted to raise a powerful bender to avenge his brother's death for him. Assuming that powerful benders normally produce powerful bender children, I inferred that I was probably chosen because my mother was a powerful bender.

Of course this inference also rests on the assumption that Koga was rational when he kidnapped me. Not the _soundest_ of assumptions given that Koga was pretty much in deep denial regarding my status as a non bender until my 9th year, but it's a start.

I'd need to get to the South Pole and search for a reasonably powerful waterbender named Niya whose child had been kidnapped 8-9 years ago.

Well, that sounds like a game plan.

 _ **LET'S DO THIS!**_

 **CHOP**

 **CHOP**

"Chop faster boy, we need more spring onions", came a shout from behind me, amidst the sound of knives chopping, water boiling and the sizzling of vegetables frying on the greased pan.

"Aye Aye Capn", I hailed with a mock salute.

"Cut the crap boy, that stopped being funny months ago", Gulon said, slapping me upside the head as he passed by me to check on the chefs.

And so it should have, I'd been using that joke for months, ever since I was first hired by Gulon to work in his noodle shop, here in East City.

I had severely underestimated the difficulty of getting to the south pole from Seaport City. Gaang made it seem so easy. Get on a Bison and fly wherever you want. No Hassle.

I was harshly reminded that the world I had landed in was pre industrial. Steamships were the fastest commercial means of travel and the sea routes hadn't been completely charted out yet. Furthermore, all sorts of dangerous beasts lurked beneath the deceptively calm waters of this world's oceans.

By the laws passed by the bending nations, every passenger transportation company was required to hire a team of benders to protect their passengers.

In short, transport was a _fucking bitch_ to pay for.

I emptied out Koga's hidden stashes in Seaport City but buying a ticket aboard a ship to _Chin City_ just about cleaned me out. If it weren't for the fact that I arrived during _Avatar Day_ celebrations (which unlike the name was celebrated for a week), I might have starved. As it was, all I was able to scrounge up were weird raw wheat balls which were handed out for free during the festival week.

I cursed Aang's name. The least they could have done was add some sugar. Or cooked the damn things.

I suppose I could have turned to pickpocketing but frankly, I'm not the most dexterous with my new fingers of mine. There's no way I'm lifting a wallet without being caught as I learned soon enough, to my detriment. I also learned that attempting to clothesline someone works better when you way a 100 or so pounds more than I do. I almost got my ass beat.

It isn't all bad though. I could punch a hole in a wall and jump almost 4 feet into the air in this strange new body of mine. Koga may have been bat shit crazy but he had put me through my paces as soon as I could walk. Since I did not show any signs of waterbending, Koga practically beat street fighting into my skull, along with forms and stances of waterbending that were applicable to hand-to-hand combat. Didn't stop me from wishing I was a bender though. With my knowledge of cartoons and anime, who knows what I could have come up with.

Of course, Being able to jump four feet into the air at my age could be explained by an observation I made soon after I woke up in this world. Gravity was lower than what I remembered. I couldn't be certain how much lighter I was but I estimated that gravity was 3/4th of what I was used to. That would explain the acrobatic stunts that were pulled off in the cartoon.

Anyhow, my luck took a turn for the better and I got a job as a DJ at a restaurant in Chin City.

A Dish Jockey, I mean. I cleaned dishes, if that wasn't clear. I liked to call myself a DJ though. It made my work feel a little less disgusting. If you ever hear a person say that they like cleaning saliva, half eaten food and occasionally puke off of utensils, don't believe them. Seriously.

Thankfully, I was eventually trusted with other tasks. Apparently there seems to be a significant subset of the female population in the region that enjoyed being served by prepubescent waiters. I put that down to one of the weird cultural differences between earth and this world. Apart from my face being pinched red by overzealous female patrons, I certainly wasn't complaining. My pale, childish face got me a raise or two.

In between serving meals, cooking broth and washing dishes, I got to know a crew of a certain ship pretty well. The captain, who frequented the restaurant was impressed with my knowledge of card games, something I had picked up on the streets. I was taken on as a cabin boy for a journey to East City in the Archipelago south of the Earth Kingdom. I cleaned the ship and helped the ship's chef when required.

The captain even recommended me to her former cook, Gulon, who had opened a noodle shop in East City after he lost his leg in an accident (He has a peg leg now, hence the lame joke).

Putting down my knife, I reached for a towel and wiped my face. I was not yet used to the temperatures inside the kitchen. As I tossed the stir fry in the wok, I thought about how far I had come. It had been a few months since I arrived in this city, almost 4 years had passed since _The Awakening_. That's right. I started calling it that. It sounds cool.

My thoughts soon turned to the city I now lived in. East City had started out in 138 AG as a settlement of disgruntled laborers and miners from both the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation, who were pissed about labor policies in their respective regions. Southern Archipelago, located just south west of the Earth Kingdom, was found to be rich in precious metals and diamonds and eventually became a source of gasoline (a resource that was quickly becoming valuable at the time), making it especially suitable for the labourers that first settled there. Soon enough East City began to thrive on its exports. During the population boom of 141 AG, it became clear that importing grains and livestock was no longer viable, so a farming settlement was established in the more fertile plains on the western regions of the Island, eventually forming West City in 142 AG. There were several settlements on the other neighboring Islands of the Archipelago as well but none could truly be called a city. West City in particular, began to thrive due to trade with East City and the Earth Kingdom.

' _Not for long though',_ I thought darkly as I skinned a carrot.

Just last week, Gulon entrusted the purchase of ingredients to his head chef, who took me along with him as a porter. The ingredients we required were mostly grown in the ample farmlands of West City so we took a large motor vehicle of some sort to buy ingredients from the suppliers in bulk. I was shocked to see the poor living conditions of the inhabitants of West City. Most farmhands lived in earth tents outside the farms they worked in, unprotected from wind or cold. There were many who were unemployed and lived on the sides of roads or in straw huts.

"Still can't get it out of your head can you? It certainly looks terrible now" said Ming, startling me out of my thoughts. Her red hair and forehead glistened with sweat as she fanned herself with her hat. "I wasn't much better when I first saw it."

I stared at her blankly and back at the carrot. I had no idea what was so terrible about a skinned carrot.

"I was just surprised", I replied honestly when I realized what she was talking about.

"I did not expect West City to be so . . . um", I trailed off, searching for the right words to portray the utter squalor and destitution of West City.

"It wasn't always a shit hole. West City was never as prosperous as East City, but there were enough jobs for everyone. About 3 years back the governor allowed immigrants to flood in. He increased the taxes which basically do nothing but fill his pockets" She said, gesturing wildly.

The governor was the one in charge of East and West Cities. The individual settlements on the other Islands had chieftains or mayors and there was no single system of law or trade that everyone adhered to. In short, the Southern Archipelago was a mess.

"Simmer down, girl! Stop worrying about West City and take the Stir Fry out to Table 4. Hao, You're done with the carrots, check the broth", cried an exasperated Gulon, stopping her rant midway. Ming pursed her lips in annoyance, and took the bowl I had filled out with Stir Fry.

I was glad for the interruption. I did not wanting to touch the issue of immigrants or taxes with a 10 foot knife. Apparently those were hot topics here too. As I began the mind numbingly boring task of stirring the broth, I couldn't help but get lost in my thoughts as Ming's rant brought to mind several questions that had been plaguing me for months.

Despite being the obvious solution to West City's unemployment situation, the governor hadn't yet created new jobs for the immigrants. I found his inaction somewhat surprising. It wasn't as if there wasn't enough money for new projects. The taxes certainly weren't being spent anywhere else.

Construction of apartments perhaps? Not the straw or earth tent crap that people live in but proper houses made of brick and stone.

Setting up a power generation plant could generate jobs for lightning benders. That could pave the way to set up electric lighting on the streets, something that was common in more industrialized regions of the earth kingdom such as Omashu and the middle and upper rings in Ba Sing Se.

There was an abundance of firebenders who were unlucky enough to believe the hype of the Archipelago cities before the news got out about the unemployment rate.

And the city certainly would need more infrastructure if the governor wanted to expand into the other islands of the Archipelago at some point.

Then again, the governor was probably spending the wealth on military projects that were kept secret. Not that I could blame him. The archipelagos were a tasty treat to any of the four Nations.

I shelved the topic for the time being. I couldn't say that I would do a better job myself. Besides I was planning to leave for the South Pole soon. It wasn't any of my business.

I had recently saved up enough to leave the city so I visited the port later that evening to check if any ships would be leaving for the South Pole soon.

"None? Not even one!?" I asked the sailors hanging around the docks. The sailors smiled wryly at my incredulous tone and enlightened me.

Not even a single ship would be leaving for the south pole over the next few months. There were very few waterbenders in the Archipelagos. Thus there was never any call for passenger transports between Harbor City in the South Pole and East City. Besides, compasses didn't work right around that area. While East City didn't have a particularly thriving trade with the Southern Water Tribe, there were a few merchants who found goods worth trading with them. I had expected to barter passage aboard one of their ships when I first arrived in East City.

Unfortunately the situation had changed. Several trading vessels bound for the South Pole were attacked by pirates over the past year or so.

Bato Shipping was one of the few companies that had ships willing to risk sailing through the fog between the Archipelago and the Earth Kingdom. This wasn't always the case. At one point of time, there were dozens of transportation companies carrying merchants and cargo in an out of East City. Over time, most of them withdrew or joined Bato, who quickly formed something of a monopoly around transport in the Archipelago.

Scared by the recent reports of piracy, merchants from the Archipelago abandoned trade with the Southern Water Tribe and either quit the business or joined Bato's Shipping Company to trade with Earth Kingdom Cities instead.

Something fishy was going on here. A once prosperous City had diminished, virtually no expansion was going on where the city treasury should be overflowing, pirate waterbenders were attacking ships bound for the South Pole, coal miners and Gasoline processing plants forced to sell their goods at an exorbitantly low price to Bato's Shipping Company which traded with the Earth Kingdom, the wealthy class from East City not growing any richer and the poor becoming more impoverished and amongst all of this, the governor refused to act in any way. Come to think of it, even the chefs at the Noodleshop acted weird at times, coming in at strange hours, acting evasive when I was around.

' _Huh. Maybe I'm just paranoid. Constant Vigilance and all that rot'_ I thought, slightly amused at my own paranoia. Then again my instincts had been pretty helpful over the past few years. I had come across a number of unsavory characters during my travels so far.

' _I wish I could just take a damn boat and row to the South Pole.'_

I abandoned the thought quickly. There were almost 220 miles between the archipelago and the South Pole. There was no way a rowboat would last that long in cold waters. Besides, even if I could row 220 miles, which I could not, I had no navigational sense to speak of, I'd get lost in a few hours especially since compasses didn't work too well around those parts.

Slightly depressed, I walked back to the Noodleshop to turn in for the night (I lived in an apartment above the restaurant with 3 other assistant chefs). It looks like I was stuck here until someone took out the pirates. Being dropped into my favorite cartoon certainly wasn't as nice as it seemed at first. No super powers, no money, and worst of all, the world seemed intent on keeping me from meeting my family.

I was startled out of my thoughts when someone slammed into me, sending me into a wall. If I had to thank Koga for one thing, it was that he trained me into the ground. I was way sturdier than anyone my age had any right to be. I certainly didn't look it but I figured my ability to take a hit even compare to an earth bender a couple of older than me. Patting myself to shake of the dust and plaster, I squinted through the dust, watching a shadowy silhouette a foot taller than me get to its feet and move behind some cargo.

"YOU! STOP!"

"STAY WHERE Y'ARE!"

Shouted two men, running towards me.

' _Earthbenders working for Bato Shipping.'_ , I thought, glancing at their green shirts with the familiar ship logo that could be seen on every other ship moored at the Docks. I had seen the type before. Tall, rugged, and unnecessarily muscled. Not that I'm jealous. At all.

Okay maybe I am! I may have grown a bit but my meager height and lack of any discernible muscle mass was still a sore point.

"I'm not the boy you're looking for", I said with a flourish of my hands. What can I say, I'm a fan of the classics.

"Wha'? The person we're looking for ran that way? Wha' d'you think we are, Stupid?" Yelled Thing 1.

Both earthbenders were slipping into a rather shoddy Earthbending stance. I say shoddy because I had actually seen earthbenders fight and actually fought some myself. There's a reason travelling alone in the Earth Kingdom isn't advised. Bandits were not exactly uncommon. Adding to that point, I finally realized why just about everyone I spoke to found me suspicious. Instead of the "Gutter-Talk" that was expected from a street orphan my age, I spoke fluently with no discernable accent.

I got into trouble a few times when bandits took me for a rich punk in disguise. The boulders that they rip out of the ground and toss so easily were actually really **really** heavy. I learned that the hard way. Took me a week to walk without a staff. I gave worse than I took though. I doubt that bandit would be able to walk again after I cut the Achilles tendons on both his legs.

Wincing at Thing 1's almost undecipherable accent, I noticed the silhouette in the dust that was creeping up behind the earthbenders that had their attention on me.

"One, I'm really not the person you were chasing; Two, You really are that stupid and three -"

WHACK! THUD!

" watch out behind you", I finished, the two grunts sprawled out unconscious on the ground.

"Thanks for keeping them busy", came a feminine voice behind Things 1 and 2.

"I could have taken them, but thanks anyway." I shot back, looking up at the owner of the voice; a girl, dressed in black, a little less than a foot taller than me, with her red hair almost completely tucked under her dark hood.

Something seemed oddly familiar about her.

The hooded girl dropped the pipe she was holding and grinned at me, opening her mouth, no doubt to debate the possibility of a 13 year old taking out two adult Earthbenders, but she frowned and looked to the side as if listening for something.

"THERE THEY ARE!"

"GET THEM!"

"Time to go", said the girl, abruptly grabbing me around the stomach and taking off running.

You think a fireman's carry or even a bridal carry is embarrassing? You don't know the meaning of the word until you have been carried under someone's arm like a sack of potatoes. My kidnapper hopped from roof to roof, one earthbending enhanced leap at a time.

"Put. Me. Down", I ground out, clenching my teeth to avoid biting my tongue off at the shocks of the landings, my face red from embarrassment. After a few minutes of roof hopping, we came to a stop and the girl set me down. I stayed on my ass for a few seconds and caught my breath. I never quite got used to heights.

Acrophobia is more common than people let on.

I got to my feet slowly to hold the nausea at bay and dusted myself off as I looked around. We had come to a stop right above the Noodle shop. I looked up at the girl, my eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Who are you?", I asked, still somewhat shaken by the roof hopping experience.

"I'm disappointed, don't you recognize me?" asked the girl coyly, taking off her hood.

Ming.

One of the waitresses at the Noodleshop.

' _What?'_

"Hold the questions kid. There's a lot I need to fill you in on, now that they've seen you. Plus, the others are waiting on me", said Ming, no doubt enjoying the gobsmacked expression on my face. She jumped down to the ground and slid her foot to the side, bending away a patch of dirt. She reached down into the patch and pulled open a disguised trapdoor and motioned for me to follow. Passing halfway through the trapdoor, I groped about in the dark before I found a ladder, pulled the trapdoor shut and climbed down.

Ming lit a torch on the wall and led me to a door.

"Okay I'm really freaked out now. Whats going on?" I asked Ming, scanning the door with suspicion. I'd seen too many horror movies to believe that this would end well for me.

"You'll have your answers soon. Gulon and the others are waiting", she replied briefly.

That really did not help. What is it about people that makes them respond with unnecessarily brief statements where they should be spilling their guts? I'm pretty sure Ming's getting off on my fear. Sadist.

' _I hope I'm not joining some sort of cult.'_

Ming knocked thrice and the door opened. Walking into the room with Ming, I noticed a few people examining a map of the Archipelagos with several locations marked in black and red. I took my time looking around the room and examining the maps. I pulling my attention away from the maps catching a few snippets of Gulon's argument with Ming.

"Why . . . too young . . . hasn't fought in his life" he whispered harshly, Ming waving away his concerns.

I was about to disabuse him of that notion but was whisked towards a chair by an exuberant woman, in her early thirties.

"So Ming tells us you distracted Bato's thugs", said the beautiful woman smiling. "Good job kid."

"Yeah. It was nothing. They just - Wait. Who are you? What the hell is going on here? What is there a secret basement below the fu-", I trailed of as I noticed a pattern form from the markings on the maps. The markings on one of them represented Warehouses belonging to Bato Shipping or one of its subsidiaries. The markings on another were estates of certain wealthy families in East City. There were several markings in the water, probably showing locations of pirate attacks. There were several other markings in locations I could not recognise. Clearly these people thought these locations were connected somehow.

"Bato, the rich folk, the governor and the pirates. You're trying to find out the connection", I said, having gotten the basic idea.

"I told you he was smart", said Ming, not looking the slightest bit ashamed at dragging me into this mess. She walked over along with Gulon, who looked like he had swallowed a lemon.

"You're half right kiddo", said the unidentified woman. "Our little group started out before the pirate attacks began. We had a pretty good idea of what's wrong with the city, we just didn't have the complete picture at first. I'm Ky Lee by the way."

"Ky Lee is one of our best chi blockers. She will be getting you started on it at some point. But more on that later. Now that Bato's men have seen you you're going to need to have a clear picture of what's going on if you want to live", said Gulon ominously.

"Why? What does Bato have to do with all this?" I asked. I wasn't naive. Bato was the only person who benefited from the mismanagement of the Southern Archipelago.

' _But is he really behind all of this or is he just an opportunist?'_

"I would have liked to keep you out of this Cheng Hao", he continued, putting his hand on my shoulder, "This is dangerous work, not something a 13 year old kid should be involved in, but **somebody** had to get you involved", he snarled, glaring at Ming.

"His face was seen by the thugs, Gulon. One way or another he was going to get dragged in. If we aren't careful, he might even get killed like the others. If we put him in the program, we can keep him out of trouble for a while", said Ming.

' _Program?'_

"Besides he looks like he can take a hit or two", said Ky Lee cheerfully, giving me a once over. She seemed a little too happy about that for my comfort. I winced as she cracked her knuckles.

"What did you find, Ming", said Gulon, blatantly ignoring Ky Lee.

Ming explained how she had infiltrated one of Bato's offices in the docks to retrieve manifests that proved that a recent shipment of Bato's contained antiques that were known to be stolen by pirates beforehand. This was too much of a coincidence. There was definitely a connection between the pirates and Bato, although this was already known to Gulon's group. What was unexpected was that Ming also found stacks of telegrams that not only showed correspondence between Bato and pirates but also implicated him in a number of other crimes. Bato was in league with the pirates who were preventing trade with the South Pole, and forcing other merchants to join Bato's company in hopes of trading with the Earth Kingdom and contributing to the horrible condition of West City. In addition he was also holding the governor's children hostage and had some blackmail on the wealthiest citizens of East Archipelago City, making sure they could not call for aid from the Earth Kingdom or the United Republic of Nations. Bato somehow had everyone important by the balls.

"There are nearly a million people in the Archipelagos. 6 out of 10 people are unemployed. There's a tyrant on the rise and no-one's doing anything about it. Both the poor and the rich are losing money and the Archipelago is being bled dry of its resources. We are one of many groups looking for a way to make this city a better place. **Our** goal is to take down Bato and improve life in the Archipelagos", said Gulon, threading his fingers together and looking at me with a sharp, penetrating gaze.

Oh boy! That was a doozy!

Much like anyone from a reasonably civilized region in the 21st Century, the conditions I saw as I travelled these past few years had disgusted me. Poverty, illiteracy, drug trade, corruption. All of it was there in the cesspool that was Seaport City. I'm no hero, nor am I a saint or anything of the sort, but it was hard to be at ease in a world like this when I remembered a much better one. But I suppressed the urge to begin cleaning up Seaport City for several reasons. Firstly, I was only 9. I was smart but I was only one kid. I could fight pretty damn well but there was no way I could make a difference. The Avatar didn't care nor did the earth kingdom so maybe I shouldn't rock the boat. What if someone found out about my transmigration?

I realized that those were just excuses. But I still had the slightest hope that I would regain all my memories and find a way back to my old world. That hope, or rather that delusion had kept me from accepting this world completely. I had still not accepted who I was _now_. There were no more excuses anymore. There was a group of people willing to train me if this 'Program' was anything to go by. If I backed out now and Bato ended up getting any more powerful, I'd never be able to get out of the Archipelago and find my mother.

"Count me in", I said, staring back at Gulon resolutely. I couldn't be sure if this was the reason I was brought here. It didn't matter. There was no backing out now.

"Like some of us who have been seen acting against Bato, you need to stay hidden. " Ky Lee said, referring to herself and the men behind her, pouring over the manifests and telegrams Ming had stolen. "You don't really need to but it's also customary for you to take a code name, since you've joined the group".

"That's not a problem", I said, picking up a strange blue mask with black horns at the temples. I had already decided to cast away my names. I had no attachment to the name Cheng Hao and the name Charlie belonged to a life I would never get back. I fixed the mask to my face.

In my previous life had always been fascinated by tales of spirits and otherworldly creatures, the Djinn in particular. Also known as Genies, they were mythological creatures of fire and smoke who could interact with the world in a tactile manner; It was one of the reasons that I liked A:TLA so much. Pop culture on earth often depicted them as beings of immense power. Even as Cheng Hao, I was interested in tales of spirits and the Avatars. It seemed right that as I shed my previous identities, I would take on a name inspired by the spirit-like beings that had fascinated me as a child in both my lives.

"I suppose you could call me Jin."

-Cue Avatar Music-

Thus began a long struggle against Bato, wannabe warlords and a Pirate Invasion of all things; a four year long struggle that resulted in the formation of Republic of the Southern Archipelago, a Nation truly independent of the 4 bending Nations and comprising an industrious metropolis that spanned the 6 main islands that formed the Archipelago.

Over the course of those four years a new legend was born in the Archipelago. A legend of a young man, dressed in black, wearing a blue mask, who would appear out of the shadows when he was needed, taking out Bato's grunts effortlessly and vanish into the darkness like a spirit. A man who would stand against wave after wave of waterbending pirates and warlords and would almost single handedly unify the diverse resistance cells all over the Archipelago into a single cohesive force to stand against a pirate invasion, a force that would serve as the foundation for the most effective law enforcement agency in the world. The legend of a man who stood strong against impossible odds, and dragged the Archipelago out of squalor and into a new age of prosperity. A legend that would only grow as the decades past.

The Legend . . . of JIN!

 **Author's Note:**

 **Next** : Jin leaves the archipelago to find his mother after four years of fighting, training and ass kicking. His time in the archipelagos **might** be covered in flashbacks as and when necessary. I'm planning on writing a new story about his time in the Archipelago when I have more time.

Also, not a self insert. I think I would make a horrible self insert. If I was really dropped in the Avatar world without knowledge of LOK plot and any super powers and no usable skills I would probably spend the rest of my life complaining about there being no 4G.

So yeah, Its an OC insert. Not sure if there's a difference from the reader's point of view since you don't really know the MC either way but some people seem to insist that there is a difference, so there you go. I will be using a couple of people as a base for the MC, a war vet for one and someone who actually has had a form of amnesia and recovered for another.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Search Ends

**Chapter 2 - The Search Ends**

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

I tipped the grumpy porter a few coppers as he unloaded my luggage onto solid ground . . . I mean ice. It wasn't much. I didn't know how much travelling I'd be doing so I packed light. After all, I had a lot of frozen tundra to cover after all.

It was with great anticipation and relief that I arrived in Glacier City in the South East Region of what passes for the Antarctic in this world. I had spent over 5 hours on a ship and frankly, I was tired of my stomach rebelling.

After spending years in the Archipelago, where the architectural styles of the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom blended together in an interesting fusion, Glacier City seemed rather bland to the eye with few buildings that weren't igloos. The few wood based structures were rarely over a single story in height. This "city" had all the hallmarks of a hastily constructed fishing settlement, much like those of the of the Southern Republic, well before the Resistance took over at least.

Despite the simplicity of the city design, I couldn't help but admire the landscape as I walked through the city.

Almost untouched by industrialisation, there was no smoke, few clouds and the entire city had a perfect view of the snow covered mountains just Southeast of the city. I wasn't in the South Pole to admire the scenery but I could almost see myself living in a place like this, if only the entire place didn't smell of fish.

I spent almost a week in Glacier City searching for any trace of my mother, Niya. I started at the trading center which doubled as a bank of sorts. No dice. I tried the local law enforcement which gave me one hell of a headache. I suppose I should have expected it but Law and Order didn't really work here the way it was set up in the Southern Republic. The leader of the tiny settlement was in charge of everything. And I mean _everything_. He led a team of trusted benders to solve problems and was quite literally the judge, the jury and the executioner. Law Enforcement was disorganized from a 21st century perspective and there was no formal police department and no record of cold cases, especially not from 16 -17 years ago. I moved on to the small bending school and the tavern but I found nothing.

"Maybe you should try Harbor City", said the barmaid, as she wiped a mug clean.

"Harbor City?"

I wiped my lips and put away my half finished drink. The name sounded familiar but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"Why it's the capital. If you're mother as talented as you say, that's where you'll find her, love. You see, the most popular Healing Clinics and Bending Institutes tend to hoard the talent. Most of them are in or around Harbor City", said the barmaid.

Capital idea. No pun intended.

I can't believe I forgot about the place where Aang met Katara and Sokka in the cartoon. To be fair though, it was difficult to equate that tiny hamlet with a city.

I tipped the barmaid. For her advice, not her choice of liquor obviously. The spirit, distilled from a specific seaweed found in the region, was without a doubt the most disgusting swill I had ever had the displeasure of having in my mouth. And I had scrounged from dumpsters at some point. Acquired taste, my pale ass.

Oh vodka, how I miss thee.

A moment of silence for absent liquors.

Alright. Moving on.

Travel between cities normally occurred in groups at the beginning of the month and as luck would have it, I just missed the latest group. While the travel routes were well documented and safe, there was always a small chance of bandits preying on individual travellers.

"It's gone down, you know. Bandit raids, I mean. Even the pirates have all but vanished. Still, best be careful and travel with the next group. You never know if they're just waiting for a chance", the barmaid explained.

Yeah, they'd better be fucking gone. We spent years beating the shit out of pirates who had nothing better to do than raid us. The cowards probably absorbed the local bandit groups to keep up their numbers. They were probably still rotting in the mines outside Arc City.

They wanted to kill us and take our stuff?

Well, now that they failed they can just mine more for us until the end of their sentence. How's that for irony.

Anyway, after years of waiting, I had run out of patience. I was going to Harbor City. **Now**.

I spent a few hours noting down tips that would help me stay alive in the icy wasteland. The barmaid was quite helpful. During our conversation, I noted down the warning signs for blizzards, how to start a fire in the cold, how to feed my mounts and numerous other helpful hints.

I bought a sled without much hassle and set out.

"Woaaah there!", I slowed the sled to a stop outside the city.

In the cartoon, Harbor City had been reduced to a few tents and igloos surrounded by a snow wall, no doubt due to the constant Fire Nation raids. I had expected something similar to Glacier City. A few igloos, maybe a stone or wooden building or two.

Shows what I know. Seventy years sure makes a difference!

The walls were what really struck me. Almost 40 feet tall, the 10 feet thick wall of ice surrounded the surprisingly vast city. Residences were commonly made of wood and stone or in rare cases whalebone, in the shape of igloos with an ice and snow coating for insulation.

I had expected getting into the city to be my first hurdle.

News of the formation of the Southern Republic had quickly spread to all corners of the world. On my advice, Gulon, who had been elected the first president due to his very public efforts to help the Archipelago, made contact with the leaders of the four nations. The archipelago had not been considered sovereign territory before.

I had expected it to take a few more months for Gulon to work his magic and woo the other nations.

I needn't have worried. Gulon's silver tongue played its part and documentation from the Southern Republic was accepted without fanfare.

My investigation yielded more results in Harbor City. The first tavern I visited directed me to one of the Healing Clinics where I was told my mother used to work.

"Excuse me. Is anyone there?"

I called out tentatively as I walked into the Healing Clinic, pushing aside the beaded curtain at the entrance.

"I'll be out in a minute. Please, have a seat."

Nervousness gripped me when I heard the voice, a _female_ voice. My palms were clammy and sweating despite the temperatures being below freezing. I took in the decor to allay my anxiety. A suncatcher hung from the ceiling on the other side of the room, drawing my attention to the trippy psychedelic artwork on posters that hung from the walls.

"Sorry about that. I have another patient in the back. How may I help you?"

My attention was drawn to the woman who had spoken. When she saw me her eyes widened, almost as if she recognised me.

I swallowed. She had a darker skin tone than me, something common in the Southern Water Tribe but -

' _Blue eyes, just like mine. Could it be?'_

"I . . . I'm looking for someone. I was told that I could find her here."

I almost choked when she smiled back at me and tucked a strand of her gray hair behind her ear.

"Is that so?"

"Mhmm. Does . . . does the name Niya mean anything to you?" I asked tentatively.

Her eyes widened, as if in surprise. She brought her hand to her lips as she stared at me.

This was it. This was what I had been working towards for over eight years.

"Niya? Now, that's a name I haven't heard in awhile, not since she passed away over a decade ago."

' _What.'_

My heart _sank_ to my stomach.

I tried not to let my disappointment show but I guess it must have slipped through anyway. I was never particularly good at keeping a poker face. That's why I wore a mask on missions.

"Oh! Are you alright, kid? You don't look so cool. Here, sit down for a second."

The woman, who was clearly **not** my mother, led me to a chair and poured me a glass of water from the jar on the counter. I noted absently that she had actually bent water out of the jug and into the glass in a single fluid motion, without any drops spilling in a nonchalant fashion, as if she hadn't paid attention. Something that required above average control and finesse. From what I had seen, most benders preferred to perform routine actions the mundane way and reserved bending for more difficult tasks.

Gripping the glass with trembling fingers I took a few sips of the chilled water to calm my nerves. I looked up and apologized to the middle-aged woman, who looked genuinely concerned.

"Don't worry about it. You asked about Niya. Why are you looking for her?" She asked, sitting down on a chair opposite me.

"I'm Jin. Niya was. . . is my mother", I replied.

I felt a hand, placed on my shoulder and as another lifted my chin up. I looked up from the glass of water at the middle aged healer. She was leaning forward and her eyes -

' _She's crying?'_

"You . . . You're Niya's son?"

She remained still for a few seconds before she came to her senses and leaned back, quickly wiping away the tears. She composed herself before scrutinizing me from head to toe.

"Yeah . . . Yeah, I see it. You've got the nose and your Aura is a lot like hers. I noticed it when you walked in."

"Aura?"

"Your Aura, kid. You know, your energy, your chi."

This was not the first time I heard of _Chi._ I had heard vague explanations of this mysterious energy that benders used to manipulate the elements. Most of the fighters in the resistance were self taught, not Institute brats from the Four Nations. This was the first time I had heard of a non bender possessing Chi. Could it be that even non benders had -

Wait a sec!

' _How would she recognise my mother's Aura?'_

"I'm sorry. Did you know my mother?"

"My name's Kya. You mother was one of my best friends. And I'm your Aunt."

That snapped me out of my depressed funk.

"Aunt?" I asked, nonplussed.

"From your father's side. You have no idea how hard we looked for you when we found out Koga had taken you. Your uncle, Tenzin took it the hardest. He was closest to Hakoda, your father", she said with a tender look in her eyes.

We sat in silence for a while. My mind was blown.

Aunt Kya, as she insisted I call her, closed the clinic for the evening so we could talk. I told her what I could remember of my life in this world and how I escaped from Seaport City and arrived in the Southern Archipelago.

"The Archipelago? Wasn't that place unstable until a year ago?"

"Yeah, it was insane. There were warlords all over the place, trying to take over and pirates that kept harassing the city. The Resistance took care of it though. I just worked at a noodle shop so I wasn't really involved."

I didn't have the heart to tell her how deeply involved I was in the fight to take down Bato, the pirates and the various warlords that kept trying to take advantage of the chaos.

Things were better now that we had set up a Republic Government of sorts but the first three years were filled with wave after wave of ignorant fools trying to tear down society for selfish reasons.

The slight disdain I had once held for 3rd world countries that were still trying to form a legitimate government completely vanished once I learnt the difficulty of such a task firsthand.

But I digress.

Back to the point, respecting revolutionaries is one thing. Lot of people did. But few of them would be willing to start any sort of relationship, romantic or otherwise with them. I felt guilty at bare faced lie but I didn't want to scare away the family I had been trying to find for years. These people were at peace. They probably had no idea what went on in the Archipelago and knew nothing of the horrible things we had to do to ensure the formation of the Republic.

So I decided to keep my mouth shut, at least for a time.

Aunt Kya sent one of her apprentices/assistants to collect my luggage from the inn where I had rented a room for the night. With the clinic closed we had plenty of time to talk. She told me numerous tales of my mother who she had met when she had lived in Republic City as a child. She told me a few about my father Hakoda, who was the son of Sokka and Suki from the cartoon.

"Sweet, so I'm like Aang's great nephew. I'm related to the Avatar? That's so cool", I enthused.

"Not as awesome as you might think, kiddo." Aunt Kya muttered indistinctly.

Over the next few months, I helped out around the clinic. I wasn't a healer obviously but I ran errands for supplies, and got to see a lot of cool spirit healing techniques, that I hadn't seen before. During this time, I got to know Aunt Kya pretty well, finding solace in the stories she told me of my parents.

My father, she told me, was orphaned at a young age. My grandfather, Sokka, fell to sickness and my Grandmother, Suki of the Kyoshi Warriors, died foiling an attempt to assassinate Fire Lord Zuko a few years after he was born. My father was raised by Avatar Aang and his wife Katara in Republic City alongside his cousins, Tenzin, Kya and Bumi.

According to my Aunt, my father was mischievous and free spirited, a stark contrast to Tenzin's stern demeanour. Despite being polar opposites the two had gotten along famously.

"Really? I can't see that happening", I said while laughing at a story she told me of Hakoda and Tenzin.

"Yeah, your dad named Tenzin your godfather you know." she said, sadness seeping into her tone as her mood took a turn for the south. "Your mom even planned to have you join Tenzin in Republic City and learn the ways of the Air Nomads when you came of age. But you probably completed the ritual already. Sigh, so many lost opportunities."

"Not yet. I turn 18 in a few months." I said, ignorant of this ritual.

' _Probably a coming of age ceremony of some sort. With drums and warlike face paint. Face paint's cool'_

Aunt Kya stared at me blankly.

"Coming of age has little to do with your 18th birthday. Don't tell me that no-one has taken you ice dodging?"

There was face paint involved, all right. But nothing about ice dodging was remotely cool.

Ice Dodging. One of the most insane sports ever invented. Imagine, if you will. After only a month of training to sail a boat, you get on a flimsy piece of wood that can only generously be called a raft and steer it through iceberg filled rapids at breakneck speeds. A wrong turn means the raft capsizes and you inhale a dozen gallons of water. Unfurl the sail too far and the boat catches air and throws you into an iceberg. Hope you like bone and marrow paste.

Oh, and before I forget, I had to do this while consciously trying to keep my lunch in my stomach. My sea sickness did me no favours there.

"Ha! Tenzin and your father completed the rite together, they failed twice", said Aunt Kya as she marked my forehead with the symbol of the brave. I sure didn't feel brave as I puked my guts out the second I got out of sight.

I threw up everything I had ever eaten in my damn life. I puked out things I had only thought about eating. I think I upchucked a half digested chicken wing I had eaten in my past life.

Suffice it to say, ice dodging was something I would never, ever attempt, ever again. Ever.

Despite the disastrous and yellow aftermath, learning that I had earned the same mark as my father made the entire experience worth it, giving me a bit of closure.

Over the next few months I learned more about the Southern Water Tribe and even made a few friends among the locals. I hadn't thought about it before as I was so glad to have found my family but over time I began to wonder how Aunt Kya was so sure that I was Niya's son.

"I've been healing people for a long time, kiddo. I've healed Niya a few times too. I know her chi like the back of my hand. Your aura is a lot like your mother's. Has the same feel to it, I guess. Hey, you want to watch me extract jellyfish venom from a fat guy?"

Misdirection. There's a little bit of Airbender in this one. No matter, I'll figure it out eventually.

Spirit Healing, at a more advanced level, required a deep understanding of Chi pathways in the body and getting good at it required a waterbender to be able to sense the flow of chi in the patient's body. There wasn't much call for it so while it was common among the veteran waterbenders at a lesser degree, there were only a few dozen healers in the Southern Water Tribe who had truly mastered the art of sensing chi. Aunt Kya was one of them.

"Healing's pretty nifty. It sucks that I can't waterbend. Sensing chi would be pretty cool too", I confessed, cursing not for the first time, that I couldn't bend the elements despite getting a second chance to live in a fantasy world.

My thoughts must have been pretty obvious because my newfound Aunt was quick to cheer me up.

"Sensing and manipulating one's internal energy isn't exclusive to benders, you know." She folded her hands and smirked at me.

My eyes widened at the prospects.

"Teach me, Sifu!"

According to my Aunt, it was a little known fact that non benders were capable of manipulating their chi. Several swordsmen, my Grandfather included were capable of manipulating chi within their body to make them faster and stronger. Sokka was even able to develop a technique that allowed him to redirect or dissipate certain bending attacks with his sword by channeling his energy through it in a particular way. It's a pity he had not recorded or taught anyone the technique prior to his untimely demise. I wondered what other applications I might be able to discover with time.

' _Superpowers here I come'_

Of course, it wasn't really that simple. There was a several step process that had been developed by the Water Tribes over hundreds, perhaps thousands of years to train healers to consciously manipulate and sense chi as opposed to the subconscious control they normally exerted while bending. So you see, it wasn't really that simple.

The **first step** and the one where most trainees would give up was learning to meditate which normally took anywhere between a week to several years, depending on the trainee's attitude. I had been meditating for years already. Decades, if you counted my previous life. An empty mind, free of extraneous thought was more capable of sensing chi for the first time than an agitated one.

The **second step** was to learn to identify the feeling of chi running through the energy pathways in the body. I was already somewhat familiar with the chi pathways in the body. It was necessary to study human anatomy to get anywhere with chi blocking. Aunt Kya manipulated her chi to induce a change in the flow of energy in my body while I meditated. It wasn't quite the same as healing but it used a similar technique. I would liken it to electromagnetic induction of current. Apparently, one's chi is much easier to sense when "your Aura is out of whack", as my Aunt Kya scientifically put it.

Ideally this step would have taken over a year of training for even the most talented healers to get a hang of. The reason for this was that as long as a benders chi was not completely blocked any slight disturbance would quickly correct itself within seconds, leaving the trainee very little time to sense the difference. I on the other hand did not have that disadvantage. This was the first time in my life that being a non bender had proved useful. In addition, I also held vague recollections of a different body with no chi at all which might have made it easier for me to sense chi in my body for the first time. I was quick to pick this step up.

Of course, the process didn't go quite as I hoped.

"You're too focused, Jin. Let your mind drift. Eventually when your thoughts clear you will feel a ripple in your hara. Follow this ripple as it makes its way out your hara and into your arms and legs. Follow it as it makes its way up to your head: your eyes, your ears and your nose. Follow it back to your hara. There you go! Do you hear it? The rushing stream of chi through your body like a raging river. Follow it into your hara. Do you see it, a massive ocean of chi waiting for you to use."

"Where are you going, Jin? We aren't done yet. This is the most important step", Aunt Kya exclaimed, when I got up and ran out.

I followed the instructions perfectly. But instead of a raging river all I got was the drip, drip, drip of a leaky tap. Instead of an ocean, my chi reserves gave me the impression of a leaky bladder.

"Toilet, I've got to pee", I said, amidst the laughter of the other trainees. Skunk-rats.

The third and easiest step was to sense the flow of chi in others. To start off, Aunt Kya had me place my hand close to a patient as she healed them and focus on their chi flowing at a rate faster than normal due to her own chi enhancing theirs. Then I gradually increased the distance between my hand and the patient until I was able to sense chi at a distance.

The last step which was typically the easiest for waterbenders was considerably harder for me than the others: learning to differentiate between of different people's energy or chi signatures. Unlike Aunt Kya, I had very little talent in this particular area and wasn't even able to identify benders from non benders which should have been easy. Aunt Kya believed that all I needed was time and experience to figure it out.

I put aside the last step of chi sensing for the time being and began to focus more on the more exciting part of my training: Trying to manipulate this bladder sized ball of energy in my stomach.

I wanted superpowers, damn it.

At first, it was like trying to grasp water with my fingers spread open. I would liken it to riding a bike for the first time. Without knowing how to walk. Or crawl.

After weeks of trial and error, I made a breakthrough. I didn't have it down to an exact science but I was able to somehow amplify my sense of sight and hearing by manipulating the Chi flow to my head. I could hear and track movement behind me and could predict motion in front of me far better. When I did it wrong it made me nauseous. But when I did it right, it almost seemed like time would slow down.

Wasn't all sunshine and rainbows though. I couldn't hold onto that state for more than a few seconds. As I learned pretty quickly, abusing my newfound ability had severe consequences - bloody nose, bloodshot eyes, ringing ears, migraine and if I pushed it, unconsciousness.

It's not something I could use often but would prove to be a decent last resort if I was attacked by a particularly powerful bender. Aunt Kya was happy to help me train my newfound ability.

It wasn't a sharingan or even a spider sense but it was something. Hopefully my future forays into the vast realm of _chi manipulation_ would yield greater dividends.

Of course, my breakthrough wasn't the only surprise I had that month.

"Mom! What a pleasant surprise! What are you doing here?"

Kya happily greeted an old woman at the door. The unassuming old woman was dressed in blue and wore a pleasant smile that spread to her eyes.

"Well I thought it would be nice to see my daughter who hasn't visited in months", said the old woman, adjusting her hair loopies that had moved when Aunt Kya hugged her.

' _Hair loopies? Mom? This must be Katara. Wow she looks . . . old.'_

"Well. I was kind of busy, Mom. I had a guest", said Aunt Kya as she gestured at me. The old master waterbender gave me a once over.

"Kya, dear. Despite my age, I would like to think that I'm fairly open minded. But don't you think this one's a little young for you? I thought you left those wild days behind you."

' _What?'_

Aunt Kya sputtered, unconsciously echoing my own thoughts out loud.

I watched in shock as a sly grin appeared on the old woman's face before it vanished, leaving behind a serene smile.

"I was only joking dear. Did you truly think I wouldn't recognize a son of the child I raised at my lap?"

' _Troll. What a troll'_

I had forgotten for a minute that the _Chi Sensing skill_ that I had barely begun to grasp was common among formally trained veteran waterbenders. Someone of Katara's prowess was probably able to sense my chi when she was close enough to the city and knew I was Hakoda's son. In retrospect it wasn't surprising. From what Aunt Kya said, Katara had practically raised my father. The similarity of my chi to his must have stuck out to her like a beacon.

' _I really hope that this sort of proficiency at Chi Sensing is rare. Privacy? I know not of this concept.'_

Katara or Gran Gran, as she insisted I call her, proved to be a great listener. So great in fact, that I found myself letting slip a few of the details of my involvement in the Archipelago that I hadn't intended on sharing yet.

The blow up I was expecting never came though. Aunt Kya was certainly shocked but she was used to members of her family doing insane things. Gran Gran on the other hand didn't bat an eye. I couldn't remember much about my parents from my past life but I had a feeling that they would have tanned my hide if I had even considered joining a semi-covert cell of revolutionaries at the age of 13. Strange how the attitudes of the adults in the two worlds were so different. Then again, I suppose that when you're related to the Avatar, you learn to take these sort of things in stride.

Among the many things discussed were my plans for the future. I drew a blank. I hadn't really considered my future beyond finding my mother and family and possibly regaining my memories. One was achieved . . . sort of . . . and the other was a distant goal at best. As time had passed by I found that considerable portions of my episodic memory of my past life had become increasingly dull and hard to access. I had tried a number of different methods to fully regain my memories of my past life: memory enhancing drugs and herbs, hypnotic therapy, meditation, all had failed to yield results. In the absence of any concrete goals, for the first time in my life in this world, I felt truly lost.

I had no intention of returning to the Southern Republic any time soon. I had done too much, gotten too involved in the power struggles over the past four years. I had no intention of returning there only to have more responsibility foisted on my undeserving, not to mention unprepared shoulders. I have no idea why they started to think I was actually smart enough to have any say in running a country.

Seriously, you take down a fat, corrupt merchant and one measly pirate stronghold and suddenly your name becomes synonymous with the words leader and savior. "Jin, help me stop the bandits", "Jin, help me write the trade policies", "Jin, help me convince the Earth Kingdom to not invade us for our jewels", "Jin, help me walk my dog", "Jin, Jin, Jin". Everyone and their grandmothers wanted you to solve their problems.

Yeah, no thanks. I'm 17. I want a fucking life. Thankfully Gulon and the others were sympathetic. I'd probably return eventually but I was sick of being the one everyone looked at when a problem popped up.

I had admitted as much to Gran Gran, who had posed the question to me. It was Aunt Kya who came up with an idea.

"Hey! Here's an idea."

"Aunt Kya, I'm not going to join a travelling circus or a hippie band."

"Ahem, we prefer to be called free thinkers. Not even a circus. Pity. Well in that case, why not head to Republic City to meet my little bro, learn the principles of the Air Nomads? It's what your mother would have wanted for you", she said with a nostalgic look on her face.

"Wait a second. Why not have him meet Korra at the compound before that. He's family so the Order should be fine with it right? Korra could certainly use some company her age", she added a moment later.

' _Korra? Order?'_

"That might be an issue, dear. You see, Korra left the South Pole just yesterday. She has gone to meet Tenzin in Republic City", Gran Gran interjected.

"Ha. She finally got fed up, didn't she. She should have left way sooner. I was wondering why you suddenly had time to leave the compound, Mom", shot back Aunt Kya.

"Hold on! Who's this Korra?" I interrupted the two waterbenders. I was completely lost here. What did this Korra have to do with anything?

"Korra is -"

"- the daughter of the Southern Water Tribe Chieftain, Tonraq. I've trained her in waterbending since she was a child" Katara interrupted my Aunt. "Since she's gone to visit Tenzin as well, this would be a great chance for you to make some new friends your age. I've heard Republic City is the place to be for the new generation."

A strange grin once again appeared on Gran Gran's face before quickly giving way to a more tranquil expression.

' _Who do you think you're fooling. I'm on to you, Old Troll. Something's definitely up.'_

 **Author's Note:**

 **Dead. She's dead. Hahahaha, I'm worse than J.R.R. Martin. Muhahahaha.**

Anyways. More build up.

Like I've mentioned. Jin will be able to defend himself against the more talented benders.

I tried to expand on the characters a bit in this chapter.

If you feel that Jin's personality seems a bit off, remember that he is technically two people squished into one. He might have widely opposing views on related topics.

Also, is causing problems for formatting. You'll find a better version of this story on spacebattles and sufficientvelocity.

Leave your thoughts below.


	3. Chapter 3 - Perspectives: Kya I

**Chapter 3 - Perspectives: Kya I**

"Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes, Aunt Kya."

"Your ticket and wallet? Did you exchange coppers for enough Yuans?"

"Yes, Aunt Kya."

"Toothbrush, paste, shampoo, soap?"

"Yes, Aunt Kya."

"Posters?"

"No, Aunt Kya. I'm not into Hippie Art."

"Ahem, Free thinkers, remember?"

"Yes, Aunt Kya."

"I packed an extra towel for you. Make sure you go shopping when you reach Republic City. Pema loves shopping, she knows the best places. Republic City has no shortage of clothing stores and malls. Be sure to get her help or you'll be lost without her. By the spirits, how you got around with just five pairs of underpants and all black clothing is beyond me. You have _far_ too few clothes for your age, young man."

"Aunt Kya!"

The poor boy looked like a ripe tomato, eliciting a round of raucous laughter from all who had gathered to see him off. Jin had made quite a few friends over the past few months, all of whom were sad to see him go. Especially her female trainees, who had taken a shine to the oblivious boy.

Her nephew's arrival had offered the non bending teenagers of Harbor City an interesting change of pace from their rather monotonous routine.

Apart from penguin sledding, there were few sports in the South Pole that were geared towards non benders. Some of the teenagers had taken to poking polar bear dogs and running away from them for amusement. Kya had done some crazy stuff in her youth, including but not limited to joining a Fire Nation circus troupe, inhaling and ingesting certain questionable (read: most certainly illegal) substances and joining an underground fighting ring. But this? As non bending teenagers with no fighting experience, picking a fight with a polar bear dog was a whole new level of stupid.

Thankfully for the teenagers' lives (and their parents sanity), Jin came along. He came up with an interesting new game for them. Ice hockey, he called it. Now the kids had a brand dangerous game to play that got them beaten up, but not killed.

' _Kid really is a smart'_ , she thought as she watched him bid his friends farewell, fondly recalling the time she spent teaching him and marvelled at the ease with which he had picked up chi sensing.

' _If he had been born a bender, he would have been considered a monstrous talent, on par with an Avatar.'_

Kya's thoughts began to take a darker turn.

Talents at Chi sensing such as Jin were hard to come by, and when they did appear every single Bending School in the South Pole fought tooth and nail over the right to train them. From time to time, even the elitist institutes from the North Pole would get involved to poach talent from the Southern Water Tribe. This talent drain had grown since that loser of a chief came into power.

These "Elite" Northern Institutes often had ties to the military and gained influence and political strength based on the number of geniuses they produced every decade. An innate talent at Chi Sensing like Jin would ordinarily have been fought over, since such teenagers often ended up becoming monstrous benders when their talent was tempered with age. When enough of these prodigious benders were gathered and set to task, they could generate enough energy to reshape the icy landscape of the South Pole as whim dictated, something that was direly needed in this time of rapid expansion.

Of course, the fact that Jin wasn't a bender meant that he slipped under their nets, narrowly avoiding the political storm that might have ensued had he been a bender. Sure his ability raised a few eyebrows but he was treated as an amusing curiosity rather than an indispensable asset or threat.

But that wasn't the end of it.

' _Chi sensing was one thing but consciously manipulating chi, as a non bender, especially at his age?'_

"Do you think I did the right thing, Mom? Teaching him to manipulate chi? That sort of ability only attracts negative attention."

Katara maintained her silence for a bit as she watched her great-nephew board the ship.

"20 years. It took your uncle twenty years to learn to consciously manipulate chi", she said slowly.

Soon after the war, Sokka had, out of boredom, begun to experiment with his sword skills when he accidently stumbled upon a technique that allowed him to direct his chi into solid objects outside his body. It was unreliable at first, nothing more than a subconscious attempt to protect himself from long ranged bending attacks when dodging wasn't an option. It took him close to twenty years to turn that subconscious defense into an attack by firing out sharp blades of solidified chi with a swing of his sword that extended several meters away.

"It took Hakoda 10 years to reach my brothers level of ability after he found those ridiculous scrolls." Katara continued. "But with only the most basic of guidance, Jin has managed to learn in a few weeks what took his father several years."

"The legends are true then?" Kya asked her mother tentatively.

"Perhaps." came the calm reply.

"So Jin really is . . ."

"Mhmm." Katara nodded.

"Should we tell -"

Kya was interrupted with a snort from her mother.

"Despite his ridiculous behaviour and comical posturing, your Uncle, Sokka was a warrior of the highest caliber. Hakoda was a talented child and quickly became a warrior that even his father would have been proud of. But those scrolls, they took over his life. His obsession with those scrolls became his undoing. Overconfidence, no . . . arrogance was all that those scrolls taught my boy." Katara said, her tone conveying her utter disdain for the scrolls her nephew had become so obsessed with, no doubt recalling his death at the hands of a bandit.

"No, its best not to burden Jin with that knowledge. Let him grow into his own without his every step being directed by the outdated tenets of an extinct order. The truth can wait until he is older. Let him enjoy his youth, like his father should have. Republic City will be good for them."

' _Them?'_

"Don't you mean 'him'?" Kya inquired of her mother.

"Hmm? Oh yes, of course. I meant 'him'", came the quick reply.

Something about her mother's tiny grin unsettled Kya, who stared for a few seconds before recognition dawned.

' _Not this again.'_

"Is that why you sent him to Republic City? To "enjoy his youth"? You're up to your tricks again, aren't you?" Kya accused, exasperated at her mother's newest project.

This was a long standing grievance of theirs'. Katara often displayed an unhealthy interest in interfering in the romantic lives of those around her, taking pleasure in the drama young couples often displayed. This was also a vice that Kya's sister-in-law, Pema indulged in to a lesser degree.

' _No wonder she gets along so well with Mom.'_

"I assure you, I have no idea what you speak of, daughter of mine."

"I doubt Jin will appreciate the meddling, Mom. You know that he'll figure it out right?" Kya asked.

"When you get to be my age Kya, you will find that there is precious little you can still enjoy. Allow this old woman her tiny bit of fun, won't you?"

Kya relented. It was just a little harmless meddling. She watched Jin board the ship with his luggage. It had been fun teaching him. It really was a pity he had to leave so soon.

' _I was planning to have him meet Tenzin and Bumi in a few months, not immediately. Wait a minute, Mom wouldn't send him halfway around the world just to watch the drama unfold. Especially after we just found him. Did she have something else in mind?'_

Kya posed the question to her mother who took a moment to think before answering.

"You've been all around the world, Kya and I'm sure you've been in fights before. But I doubt you understand what that boy has really been through." She muttered softly.

"I'm know. Jin clearly hasn't told us everything, and I would be the last one to blame him, especially with the way the poor child grew up. But isn't that all the more reason to keep him close? Surely being around family would help him?"

"Indeed, that is why I'm sending him to his family. Tenzin will be able to take care of him."

"That's no reason to send him to Republic City. I'm his family too and I can keep an eye on him perfectly well right here, Mom." Kya raised her voice in indignation.

' _Just because I haven't gotten married, brought up three kids and led a council of incompetents for a decade or two doesn't mean I can't keep a single teenager occupied.'_

"I'm sorry, dear. That's not what I meant. Not in the slightest", Katara apologized.

"But you need to understand. Already, Jin shows signs of weariness and distrust of the world around him. Having the lives of your comrades resting on your actions for a prolonged period of time takes its toll, Kya. It may not be visible the way a wound bleeds, but its impact can be dangerous to one's spirit. The actions one takes during such a time may seem logical, even reasonable in that particular instant but they can haunt you in ways you wouldn't have thought possible. You may not believe it but the simple lifestyle of the Air Nomads has its way of healing wounds of the soul." She added.

Kya settled back down when she heard her mother's argument.

' _She's got me there.'_

Kya was never particularly close to Aang. No, the spot of favorite child had been reserved for her baby brother, Aang's precious Airbender, something she still resented Aang for. But if her mother thought Tenzin could help her newfound nephew then she had no arguments. But -

"I don't want to sound whiny but did he really have to leave so soon, Mom?"

Having Jin around had made these past few months quite nostalgic. The stories she had told him where her own way of reliving her own past, when her best friend was still alive. It was amazing how much like his mother he acted, despite taking after her cousin in the looks department.

"I understand, dear. I too would have preferred that he stay awhile longer. But I'm afraid that might not be in Jin's best interests." Katara replied with an irritated tone.

"Why? What happened?" Kya asked, concerned.

"Sigh. I hadn't wanted to worry Jin by mentioning it to him. The boy will have enough to deal with, adjusting to the Air Nomad lifestyle. One of your trainees decided to flap her gums about a certain prodigious non bender who is capable of advanced chi manipulation. Certain . . . _influential parties_ heard the rumours and became interested. I for one would prefer that Jin stays out of their reach - at least until his actions in the Southern Republic become common knowledge and these interested parties become aware that Jin has the might of an entire independant nation standing behind him, even if he doesn't know it", Katara smiled coldly.

"Interested parties? You mean the Northern Institutes?" Kya asked, worried about her absent nephew. She could do nothing for him in Republic City.

"Among others. Don't worry, dear. I still have enough clout in Republic City they all keep their hands to themselves. I am Aang's wife you know. But honestly, I thought it was us old folk that liked to gossip. If I was the one training those girls of yours, I would stick them in a iceberg to train their psychic bending as punishment." Added the veteran healer, annoyed at the trouble the ditzy, smitten trainee had caused.

"I'll get right on that, Mom."

"And make sure there are sharks around. Don't want them falling asleep."

"Yes, Mom."

' _Say what you want about mom. She may be kind and nice most of the time. But she's a cruel task master when it comes to training.'_

 **HOOOOOOOORN.**

The ship let out the final warning horn and the remaining passengers rushed to board the ship before it left them behind.

"By the way, Mom. You seem to know an awful lot about what Jin is going through. Did Aa . . . father have to make any tough decisions while fighting the Fire Lord that didn't make it into the books? Or did you?"

"No, dear. I was relatively guilt free after the war. Your father did go through a difficult phase once he was faced with the destruction that the Phoenix King had left in his wake. But thankfully, the wisdom of the previous Avatars served him well. No, I know a little about Jin's time in the Archipelago because I recently got back in contact with an old friend of mine there. An excellent chef by the name Gulon. He was one of many who fought alongside Jin, and one of the few who knew about the . . . _impossible_ decisions Jin had to make as the Symbol of the Resistance." Katara explained.

"Wait, What? How do _you_ know the president of the Southern Republic, Mom? Haven't you been training Korra for over a decade?" Kya asked incredulously.

"All old people know each other, dear. Don't you know that?" Katara replied, smiling mysteriously.

Kya let the topic rest before she became more confused.

She and Katara settled into a thoughtful silence as they watched the passenger ship sail into the horizon.

-o-o-o-o-o-

 **Author's Note:**

A slightly smaller chapter this time I think. I don't really count words. I've found that it pokes a hole in the balloon that holds my creative juices (Sorry about the imagery).

A little more non canon-world building in this chapter. I know I said that I'd pace it but I really couldn't help it. The Avatar world is a pretty interesting place and my thoughts tend to be a teensy bit more detailed than is probably healthy.

Laying a tiny bit of the foundation for the second book here, politics and all. I know that this chapter is cryptic. I wanted to lay a foundation of my idea for this story around the canon plot. Without that, it's just Jin getting super powers so he can master the art of badassery and begin to f**k asses and kick bitches. Or is it the other way around?

Anyhow, as always leave your thoughts below.


	4. Chapter 4 - A Promising Start

**Chapter 4 - A Promising Start**

" _Sooo! How's it going, Boss?"_

" _They're on their way. Should be here in 'bout 25 minutes. Ming's leading 'em 'ere the long way. According to scouts, 'ere's only 25 of 'em this time and Ming's team has already picked off a few, but they could do the camp some serious damage before we put 'em all down. We didn't expect 'em this early, after all. We could use one of 'em insane plots of yers', kid."_

 _I didn't answer Gulon for a while and instead observed Ming's scout team luring the pirates away from the settlement through the binoculars._

 _It had been a few months since the pirates began raiding the mining settlements on the outskirts. We had held them off for the most part, except for the two settlements we lost because we couldn't get there in time to help but this would be the first time we intentionally lost a skirmish and lured them after us, away from their ships and the settlement to avoid collateral damage._

 _We had identified the one leading this raid, some dumb brute with no head for tactics. We had close to thrice the manpower they did, all lying in wait at the end of an exhausting chase. It would be an easy fight but the cost would probably be the outpost._

 _Hastily constructed out of wood and whatever we had on hand, the feeble encampments would quickly give way to the attacks of the waterbending pirates._

' _ **Yeah. Not going to happen. Once we get entrenched here, this camp can serve as an outpost to monitor the three remaining fishing settlements on the western islands. I don't want to have to do this crap all over again. I've been stuck here for days.'**_

 _Instead of answering Gulon I handed him the binoculars and turned to the swamp and the camp next to it. I looked out at the people who had, despite my age, come to regard me as something of a leader._

 _I noticed a few of them bend some mud of a crate. They seemed to have some difficulty doing so because the mud was stickier than normal._

 _ **Spirits know why the ground is so sticky here. I know it's a swamp but still. Wait a sec. Aren't they waterbenders?'**_

" _Hey, you two. Get your butts over here."_

 _The two in question trotted over to me and saluted._

" _Sir?"_

" _Sir?"_

" _Aren't the two of you waterbenders?"_

" _Sir! Yes, Sir!" Came the reply._

" _But you bent the mud of the crates?"_

" _Affirmative, Sir!"_

" _The crates contain medication and food, Sir! Resistance Protocol for military hygiene dictates -"_

" _Yeah, yeah. Protocol. I get it. That wasn't my question, guys. And enough with the "Sirs". How did you guys bend earth if you're waterbenders?"_

 _The two looked at each other uncertainly._

" _It's not earth, Jin."_

 _I paused. That was not an answer. I hate people not spilling their guts when I ask them a question. It's not polite. I tended to take it personally._

" _What do you mean? I saw you bend the mud. Explain, now. Or would you like the Dark Knight treatment?" I ordered, feeling a little annoyed by this point._

" _Jin! No, Jin! It's not earth, Jin! It's clay."_

" _Alright! First off: Stop using my name like it's a title! That's fucking weird, guys. Second: That wasn't an explanation. What do you mean "It's clay". And how would that matter -"_

 _I cut myself off as I got the gist of it. I must admit I was slow to understand but when the bulb began to shine, it did so with a vengeance._

 _I looked around at the swamp around me, my mood lifting as I noted the ample clay just waiting to be used._

 _An innocent, bashful smile appeared on my face when I figured out a way to turn the swamp into the perfect welcome mat we could roll out for the pirates. A Red Carpet, one might say. The two waterbenders began to back away slowly as I laughed goodnaturedly._

" _Mhahaha. Mwaahahaahahahaaa._ _ **Mwahahahahahahaaaa.**_ _"_

* * *

 **Knock Knock Knock.**

"Sir."

"Don't call me "Sir", guys", I slurred out, rubbing the dust from my eyes.

 **Knock Knock Knock.**

"Master Jin, please wake up."

"Huh?"

I stretched out and looked to the side of my bed, wondering where I was.

' _Oh right. Ship to Republic City. I got a VIP cabin. '_

"Are we there yet?" I called out.

"An hour away, Master Jin. Also, your neighbors were frightened by the laughter and requested that it cease, Master Jin. I apologize for the inconvenience."

Right. Of course. Bad Habit.

"Right Ho, Lee."

"Very good, Sir."

My morning rituals complete, I exited the cabin, grabbed some breakfast, tipped the butler I shared with the adjacent cabins (expensive it might be but the VIP cabins were worth every yuan), and decided to get one last look at the ocean before we arrived.

It was almost dawn when the cruise ship pulled into the dock. I walked past another ship as I made my way towards the city.

' _A cargo ship by the looks of things. Glad I don't have to travel in those anymore'_

The sight of the crew hauling cargo off the ship and onto the docks made me recall the days when I had just woken up in this world without two coppers to rub together. I spent days aboard cargo ships moving from city to city, playing cabin boy for a crew of over thirty sailors to pay my way. I wasn't ungrateful of course, but sailors didn't seem to understand the need to maintain basic hygiene. Women were no exception, as I learned to my detriment. The entire freighter had smelt about the same as a locker room after a football game, the kitchens were grimy and I'm surprised I managed to get to the Archipelago without falling sick.

I shivered a bit, shook off the unpleasant reminder and walked into the city.

I had just walked past a warehouse when a large, white beast barreled past me with a woman on its back. _'There's an uncommon sight'_ , I thought, staring at the ponytailed girl dressed in light blue clothing and thick furred boots. I could tell that she was probably from the Southern Water Tribe. Northerners preferred darker blues for some reason.

The girl was of course, not the uncommon sight I refer to. At least, not entirely.

What _was_ uncommon however, was the creature she rode. A large white polar bear-dog. Sparsely found in the frozen tundra of the South Pole, these beasts were deep sleepers, slow to wake up but were unusually territorial and aggressive for part canines. I had seen a few during my travels in the Antarctic.

Most advice I received on the topic while noting down tips for survival seemed to follow a common theme:

" _Don't fuck with a polar bear dog and it won't fuck you up"._

A common, if stupid, water tribe game among teenagers at the South Pole was to poke a polar bear dog in its sleep and run back to safety in the time it took for the normally aggressive creature to wake up and begin chasing them.

' _Glad I "invented" ice hockey to keep those idiots occupied. It's a wonder that the Southern Water Tribe hasn't bred the stupidity out yet.'_

Back to the point I was trying to make, it probably took a special brand of insane to tame a beast that aggressive.

' _Therefore, note to self, stay away from crazy girl riding the polar bear dog.'_

I walked into the massive city, enjoying the vague sense of nostalgia that the modern architecture evoked. One of the things that surprised me about the city was the widespread use of private motor vehicles. I did know they existed. One of the Archipelagos major exports was gasoline, after all. I had helped broker a trade agreement (which I was not paid enough for) with Republic Oil Ltd. before I left the Archipelago. So yeah, a few motor vehicles here and there was expected, multi-lane highways carrying thousands of private transports all over the city were not.

' _It's interesting, how much more industrialized Republic City is when compared with the rest of the world. Aang certainly went all out on this place.'_

I eventually wandered downtown and was taking in the sight of establishments that offered certain . . . services that I couldn't take advantage off (yet, _damn_ it) when I was interrupted by a particularly beautiful tune. I followed the mesmerizing music to a quaint shop on a street at the edge of downtown where I spotted an old man with a long grey goatee polishing what appeared to be a record player.

' _Mother of Gods! Recorded Music, how I have longed for thee.'_

It might seem strange to some but prior to this day, my experience with music in this world had for the most part been badly sung folk songs and raunchy limericks, given tune (badly) by drunkards in taverns.

"It's an invention of Sato's. He brought up the idea a long time back but only started manufacturing them a few years ago. It hasn't become popular outside of the well-to-do folk. You need to buy records as well, see. Also listening to music live on the radio seems to serve us regular folks' requirements fairly well", the old man explained enthusiastically.

' _Sato, again? This guy gets around!'_

Old man Chung was happy to play a few records to demonstrate the phonograph. After I listened to a few classical instrumental pieces and one piece that had distinct similarities to folk metal I decided that I was definitely buying myself one of these.

' _Radio? Ha. Like someone used to spotify and youtube could possibly be satisfied for long by staticky crap played live on the radio.'_

"So how much did you say this device cost, Mr Chung?"

"Oh, just 700 Yuans for you, young man. In fact, since this is the last one on stock that I need to get rid of, I'll throw in two records of your choice for fr - "

 **Vroom Vrooom.**

"You need to leave, young man", whispered the store owner, his face paling when he noticed a stylish Satomobile come to a stop outside his store. It didn't escape my notice that most of the people left the street and closed up their shops as three men exited the Satomobile. The once busy street had, within the span of a few seconds, become as silent as a cemetery, with the only sounds audible being the steps of the three gaudily dressed men.

"Mr. Chung. _Please_ tell me you have my money", drawled out one of the men approaching the store's yard with a lazy gait.

"Or else, I can't guarantee I can protect your **. . .** fine establishment."

He then smiled and gestured to one of his two smirking bodyguards who lit a flame above his hand.

' _Alright. So average protection racket. Thugs use bending to extort money and going by the suddenly closed shops and the empty street, this isn't an isolated incident. These people are used to this.'_

While I analyzed the situation, Mr. Chung stuttered out an apology, offering his last phonograph to the thugs as collateral.

' _Oi, I was going to buy that. Wait. Woah. What is he - Noooo!'_ I thought in horror, as firebender smashed the record player into the ground, burning it to scrap metal in the process.

My right eye twitched involuntarily as I helped Old man Chung up and looked over at the record player.

These turd stains had probably destroyed the first source of recorded music I had seen in almost a decade. Probably the only one that might be available for purchase in the foreseeable future.

I was going to _pulverize_ them. Right after I checked on the record player.

"My friend is not a music lover", said the 80s Mafioso in the trench coat, "I'd suggest you pay us what you owe, or else -"

"Or else **what** , hoodlums?" Came a shout from behind the three goons.

' _Hoodlums? Who says that anymore?'_ I thought,still a tad dismayed at the candid destruction of the record player that I wanted to purchase.

' _A polar bear dog? Is that the stowaway water tribe girl from the cargo ship?'_

I missed most of the intermediate conversation while I put out the fire before it burned the store down and tried to salvage the record player. I turned back to the street just in time to watch the leader of the thugs fling a dense bolt of water at the girl who rapidly bent it back at him and in the process, encased his head in ice. The mafia wannabe stumbled towards the younger waterbender, the ice on his head upsetting his balance. The girl met him midway and hook kicked his head, slamming it onto his car, denting the bumper severely and knocking him for a loop in the process.

' _Chick's got basic CQC training and is a waterbender. Shortie with the superman hair is a firebender, flexible, going by that earlier kick - probably speedy and acrobatic. Hate those types. Large guy - Hmm. Going by the other two, a bender, probably earthbender going by the tall, sturdy physique and green clothing. Insane waterbender chick has advantage with Firebender. Engage earthbender.'_

I pulled Old Man Chung onto his feet, ushered him indoors and ran towards the Earthbender. But before I could tackle him, the tall thug rushed forward and began to earthbend. He never got the chance to do so, however. The girl slammed her foot into the ground in a waterbending stance I had never seen before.

I leaped out of the way of the torrent of water I was expecting to fly towards the earthbender and myself. But I was surprised when a column of earth rose under earthbender's feet instead and launched him into the air.

' _Umm . . . What?'_

The earthbender's fall was broken by a fruit stand.

' _Did the earthbender just take himself out? Talk about shoddy earthbending. No! That waterbender just raised a platform. How?'_

I had seen waterbenders bend clay before. The water was often bonded so well with the earth that extracting the water took more effort than it was worth. Instead, the strong mix of water and earth made it possible for water benders to bend clay as it was. What claybending took away from traditional waterbending in flexibility, it gained in potential for blunt force and ingenious field applications like traps and disabling enemy weaponry. Several strategies involving claybending had been used to great effect once the pirates began their direct assault on the Archipelago.

' _But waterbenders manipulating the earth by itself? Perhaps there is enough water in the ground that she can sense?'_

The firebender with the superman hair squeaked and bent an unfocused stream of fire at the girl hastily. My shock grew as she simply ripped through it and defused the flame. She grappled his hands and tossed him right through the window of an antique clock store.

' _Fire too? I suppose, you could split Hydrogen and Oxygen and - Wait a sec. Is she -'_

"The Avatar!" shouted an old lady from next door as my confusion cleared.

I could have hit myself on the head for not realizing it earlier. It might be the fact that I had seen the cartoon but it was easier for me to come up with ridiculous theories than imagine anyone other than a bald kid as the Avatar.

I had a quick look through the broken window of the clock store and winced. A few tens of thousand yuans worth of damage at least. I maybe rich now but that was still a lot of money.

' _There were easier ways to take him out.'_

"Urggh."

I turned around and saw that the earthbender had gotten up again. Deciding to end this incident without further collateral damage, I ran at the earthbender, who quickly focused on me.

"Don't even try, kid."

The large earthbender yelled in a guttural tone as he raised a boulder twice the size of my body and punched out, hurling the boulder in my direction.

I ducked under the boulder and somersaulted over his head, poking his eyes with my fingers in the process.

The earthbender clutched his face in pain as I landed on my feet behind him. I slammed a heavy palm strike into his armpit, dislocating his shoulder and eliciting a groan.

I was almost blindsided when the earthbender, undaunted by his useless left arm, took a blind swing as he turned around to face me.

' _Holy shit, this guy's sturdy. What's it going to take?'_

I bent slightly at the knees, dodging under a haphazard right hook, and lowered my center of gravity in preparation before my arms _blurred_ , fingers slamming repeatedly into the earthbender's left external oblique with practiced ease, targeting a few pressure points that would block his bending for thirty minutes, with the welcome side effect of numbing the left side of his body for the same duration.

The earthbender let out a pained moan and fell on his side like a fish out of water, unable to do more than twitch.

I hadn't needed to dislocate his shoulder but a little pain over the next couple of days should teach him to keep his bending to himself in the future.

I might have smirked at my handiwork a little longer but my private gloating session was unfortunately interrupted by the waterbender getting into and starting his Satomobile. He wasted no time pulling the firebender in and floored it.

"You're not getting away", growled the Avatar. After spending years fighting alongside and against benders of all types, not all were trained by professionals but, I had learned to recognise their stances for the most part.

My eyes widened as I saw the Avatar get into a stance that I distinctly recognised as a variation of the Taekwondo _Forward Stance_ , usually used to bend earth a significant distance away from the bender. That could mean only one thing.

"NO, DON'T!"

Disregarding my warning, she stomped down and raised her hands, bending an uneven rock formation in front of the fleeing Satomobile, clipping its tires, sending it careening out of control and crashing into a shop.

' _Idiot',_ I thought angrily, going over to make sure no one else was injured in the crash. The girl followed me with her giant polar bear dog. Sighing in relief when I found the store vacant, I turned around to read her the riot act when I was interrupted by a siren.

The police were here.

' _This will not end well',_ I thought morosely.

I hadn't intended to get involved with Law Enforcement anymore. Now, I was going to get up close and personal with them from the other side of the table.

"POLICE! FREEZE WHERE YOU ARE!"

They dropped out of the sky, strange black cables shooting out of their wristguards, attaching to the buildings and slowing them down.

"Cool! Metal benders", cried the awed Avatar, staring up at the police.

' _Like Toph in the cartoon',_ I thought.

I had not seen metal bending in this world before, it was a surreal experience. I had known it existed since it had come up in conversations before but the ability seemed fairly exclusive even decades after it was discovered. Apparently, only one in a hundred earthbenders had the talent and mindset to learn it and even fewer were able to train the skill without competent instructors.

' _Note to self, have the big shots contact someone in the Earth Kingdom to train a few for us. The lack of metal benders in the military is a glaring hole in our - Gah, what am I thinking! I came here to get away from that crap. It's not my responsibility.'_

The police landed in front of us, withdrawing their cables with a snap.

"We caught the bad guys for you officers", said the Avatar, smugly directing them to the car crash.

' _This literally cannot get worse',_ I thought, my face palm drawing a curious look from the Avatar. She had ruined the paved roads, caused a car crash, destroyed an antique store and just confessed to the police. Did she really think they were going to give her a medal?

"Arrest them", said one of the officers, watching as the others shot out metal cables, tying the thugs up.

"You're both under arrest too. You will be questioned at headquarters", he continued, approaching us with a glare.

"What do you mean I'm under arrest?" said the Avatar, indignantly. "Those are the bad guys over there. They were smashing up a shop." she said, pointing at the groggy bending trio.

"We noticed. By the looks of things, you smashed up way more than that", said the officer, gesturing at the shops and the road.

"There's no need for the cables officer, I'd be happy to accompany you to the police station and explain myself. I'm sure you'll find that my actions were acceptable, given the circumstances", I smiled disarmingly, hoping to avoid being trussed up like a chicken.

The officer nodded at me with a constipated look on his face and then turned to the Avatar. The Avatar looked at me, shocked but quickly turned to the police.

"Wait! You . . . you can't arrest me, let me explain", she said quickly.

The officer narrowed his eyes in irritation.

"You can explain all you like down at headquarters", said the officer snapping out a metal cable which the Avatar dodged with a backwards somersault. The polar bear dog, which had been docile till now, decided to show its displeasure by shoving the officer into the ground from behind and leapt towards the Avatar, who got on its back and turned towards me.

 _No, No, No',_ I thought in horror. "Wait! Wait a sec. There's no need for this. We just need to give them our statements." I said, backpedaling. The Avatar rode her beast towards me, picked me up by my collar, dropped me behind her and kicked away one of the cops who jumped at her.

"This isn't a good idea, Avatar", I said.

 **Zpppp.**

The both of us ducked under a metal cable that shot past us, knocking over a bunch of fruit on a vendor's stall. I watched with growing trepidation as the cops jumped onto telephone lines that ran through the city and began following us on them.

"The name's Korra and you can thank me later", said the Avatar, smirking back at me.

' _Wait a second. Korra? This was the girl Gran Gran wanted to introduce me to?_

"I knew that Troll was up to no good", I murmured.

"What was that?"

 **Zpppp.**

"Duck", I replied.

I ducked sideways again when I heard the telltale _whooshing_ of the metal bender cables. I didn't want to be yanked off the polar bear dog at this speed. I was able to dodge the cable, Korra could not. The cable caught onto Korra's hair. Korra let go of her mount's reins and lifted both her hands, sending up a deluge of water from under the bridge we were on and froze the wave in place. The unfortunate cop holding onto her ponytail slammed face first into the ice spire, before letting go of the ponytail. And his consciousness.

' _So, that's deadly assault on Law Enforcement added to the growing list of charges'_

"This isn't over, Korra. It's probably better to let them take us in. We shouldn't have much of a problem getting out of trouble", I said nervously, seeing more and more cops join the chase.

Utterly ignoring my (partly) valid argument, Korra directed the polar bear dog to leap off a bridge and onto a roof when a number of cables shot down from an overhead blimp, grabbing the beast's limbs and suspending it in the air.

Neither Korra nor I had a chance to jump off before a few more cables shot down soon after, binding the two of us together. My embarrassment rose to its peak as the blimp paraded us throughout the city on its way to RCPD HQ.

' _Well I guess it is over. At least, things_ _ **really**_ _can't get any worse now'_ , I thought, hoping the cops would go easy on the Avatar and I. Or at least, me.

But of course that wasn't the end of it. Nooo, how could fate possibly let up now?

I soon noticed that I was bound quite tightly to a beautiful, toned young woman with an equally toned rump.

Yeah, bad things tend to happen when one tempts Murphy.

My traitorous blood chose the perfect moment to mutiny and began to flow south by the gallon.

' _I guess things just got worse',_ I thought sourly as Korra kept wiggling in an attempt to get free, ignorant of the part she was playing in my _rapidly_ growing problem.

Truly, a promising start to my time in Republic City.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

As always, leave your thoughts below.


	5. Chapter 5 - Welcome to Republic City

**Chapter 5 - Welcome to Republic City  
**

"Looking away won't get us out of this mess. You know that, right?" I asked a red faced Korra.

No Reply.

' _Hmm . . . must still be angry with me. I can't imagine why. It's not like it's my fault that she's been eating right.'_

I tested the strength of the cuffs on my wrist. No dice - too strong. No keyhole to pick. For metalbender use only, methinks.

Not that I intended on escaping, no that would just add to my problems.

I was just curious.

The police blimp carried the two of us all the way to the entrance of the Police HQ where we were unceremoniously frogmarched into an interrogation room by a severe looking, middle aged detective. The ferocious glare she aimed at the tent I was pitching made me fear for Junior Jin. Needless to say, my boner beat a strategic retreat and refused to make another appearance that evening.

Our wrists were cuffed to a table in short order and we were left to our own devices while the scarred detective debriefed our arresting officers.

"We should at least get our stories straight. Korra? Come on, say something already!"

Yeah, no luck there. Korra couldn't even look at me, let alone talk to me. I gave it up as a lost cause.

' _Wait, why are we in the same room anyway? Shouldn't they have separated us?'_

I also wondered why the cops were being so heavy handed. While Korra probably broke a few laws in her recklessness, there was no damage done that couldn't have been fixed by a bender. Other than the clocks and the windows, I suppose, but that just required a fine. Metalbender operated interrogation room with uneven chairs, poor lighting and unpickable cuffs?

' _Seems like overkill for vandalism. A waste of man hours and resources. There is no mystery to solve here - thus no need for interrogation.'_

The door slammed open and the detective stalked in, clipboard in hand.

"Korra from the Harbor City and Jin from Arc City. Let's see, **multiple** counts of destruction of private and city property, not to mention evading arrest, you two are in a whole mess of trouble" she said, glaring at the two of us, _slamming_ her clipboard onto the table as she loomed over us menacingly.

"Well technically I only took one of those thugs down, barely even involved really. In fact . . . ", I trailed off.

' _Is that glare trademarked?'_

"Look. There were some thugs threatening a helpless old man and I j-"

"Can it!" shouted the interrogator, interrupting Korra. "You should have called the police and stayed out of the way", she said, walking around Korra's blind spot - an effective interrogation tactic.

' _Except for the part where she refuses to let her suspects speak; and keeps them in the same room. Does she want to indict us or lecture us? And what's with that condescending attitude.'_

"I don't mean to be a smartass but they would probably have fried the old man if we tried calling for the police or if we had walked away." I said, feeling a little put out over her sanctimonious tone.

"You clearly haven't lived here too long. Those goons you two beat up today are Triad. They're thugs but they aren't stupid. They know better than to hurt people in broad daylight. The worst those numbskulls would have done was scare the old man with a bit of flashy bending. The fallout would have been manageable. Your . . . heroics escalated the situation and could have caused the man's death. As I see it, you're lucky that didn't happen."

In hindsight, I had to give this one to her. Law Enforcement and Organized Crime often maintained a tenuous status quo, one that even the Triads wouldn't be too eager to break by killing in broad daylight, at least, not when it was unnecessary. Doing so would only damage their more legal sources of income.

Of course, as they say, hindsight is 20-20. That might not have been the case at all. For all we knew, had we not intervened, those goons might have decided that a change in M.O was in order and torched the shop with Chung still inside. I was sorely tempted to call the detective out on that but decided to keep my mouth shut and let the her vent a little.

Best not piss of the head interrogator especially since I didn't know exactly how indictment worked in Republic City.

"Luck had nothing to do with it, Lady. I'm more than up to the task. See, I'm the Avatar. It's my duty to help innocent people and beat up thugs like that." Korra boasted.

I snorted.

Claiming Diplomatic Immunity or its equivalents - The best way to piss off Law Enforcement.

"Oh, I'm well aware of who you are, and your "Avatar" title might impress others, but not **me.** And do you really think that the duty of the Avatar is to beat up every thug they come across?", the detective deadpanned. At this point, I noticed light reflecting of the badge on her armor, a badge that wasn't present on the armors of any of the squad members that brought Korra and I in.

"Well then, I would like to speak to whoever is in charge", said Korra, irritated at the detective.

I resisted the urge to snort again. Clearly Korra didn't notice the gleaming badge on the detective's armor. I didn't feel to eager to correct her. No need to draw attention to myself.

"I'm Lin Beifong, Chief of the Republic City Police Department and I'm afraid you're out of luck. I'm the one in charge", she said, sitting opposite to me and Korra with a smirk on her face and folded her hands on the table.

' _Beifong? Tall, buff and not blind. And she looks nothing like Toph. Is she adopted? No, Shut up. Don't comment. Could be a sore point. Just stay quiet and answer questions when spoken to. I can get out of this without jail time. If it gets out of hand, I'll ask for a lawyer or have her call Tenzin.'_

"Beifong. As in, Toph Beifong? Wait a sec. Avatar Aang and your mother saved the world together. Why are you treating me like a criminal. If anything, we should be on the same side", said Korra, indignantly.

' _Does Beifong hate Aang? No way, there's a big ass statue of him here. On its own fucking island no less!'_

"That's ancient history and got flameo to do with the mess you're in", said the Chief.

"I don't care how things are done down in the South Pole but vigilantism is not tolerated in Republic City. My people undergo training to fight in the streets without causing collateral damage; training that _you_ lack."

I could kinda see where she was coming from. I worked briefly as a consultant with the newly established Law Enforcement in Arc City in the Southern Republic and had an idea of what cops had to deal with: The people of the city who, more often than not, supported the vigilantes, the increased paperwork and the frustration of fellow cops. Not to mention the eventual media shitstorm when the untrained vigilante on a power high inevitably got stabbed to death by some schmuck.

But calling me a reckless vigilante? That's going a little far.

"It's a bit premature to call us vigilantes, Chief. This is hardly something we've made a habit of and we did have good intentions. It just got a bit out of hand", I said, hoping to calm Beifong down. The last thing I wanted was jail time. Charlie might have gotten through jail fine without being looked at twice thanks to his huge physique and intimidating face. But me? I'm borderline _pretty_ and I damn well know it _._ There'd be at least a few guys in prison I'd have to cripple for looking at my ass wrong.

"If good intentions mattered we'd be eating rainbows all day, living in clouds made of cotton candy and _I_ would be out of a job." She ground out, directing her glare at me for the second time.

' _The gods of sarcasm have truly blessed this one with abundant bounty. Maybe I should ask for a lawyer now.'_

A metal window opened into the interrogation room and an officer stuck his head in.

"Councilman Tenzin is here to see you, Chief."

' _Wonderful, this could not possibly get any better.'_

Shackled to an interrogation table like a criminal was not the first impression I wanted to make.

The Chief bristled.

"That fool? What does he want _now_?"

But the fight visibly drained out of the Chief when she looked back at Korra and I.

"Oh, let him in. Let's get this over with", she said, sighing loudly.

The guard returned an affirmative and a door opened into the interrogation room. A tall, bald man with a goatee walked in, dressed in yellow and red robes.

"Sorry Tenzin, I got a little sidetracked on my way to see you", Korra said sheepishly.

My uncle's moustache trembled as he noticed Korra. But he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and calmed himself, and then smiled widely at the Chief.

"Lin! You are looking radiant as usual."

"Cut the garbage Tenzin!", _'Ouch! Forget Aang, it's Tenzin she hates',_ "Why's the Avatar in Republic City? I thought **you'd** be moving down to the South Pole to train her", said Beifong.

"I'm afraid that my moving has been . . . delayed in light of the riot last week. The **Avatar** , on the other hand, will be heading back to the South Pole **immediately** where she will stay put -" "But -" " - if you would be so kind as to drop the charges against Korra. I would of course assume full responsibility for today's regrettable events and cover all the damages", continued Tenzin calmly, ignoring Korra's interruption.

"Urrgh, fine! Get. Her. Out. Of. My. City!" the Chief ground out, releasing Korra from her manacles, with a wave of her hand and walked to the door to speak to the guard.

That was when I caught sight of my Uncle for the first time. As his eyes caught mine I saw them narrow . . . and widen.

"A moment, Lin?"

Lin paused and turned back to face him.

"What is it? Take the girl and leave, I have work to do." She said curtly.

"Might I ask how this young man is involved?" He inquired, gesturing to me.

"Master Tenzin. He didn't do anything. Look I get that I shouldn't have intervened but _**Jin**_ didn't really do anything wrong! He got caught up in this because of me", Korra cut in earnestly.

"Jin?" Tenzin murmured as he walked close to the table.

"Hehe, yeah. That's me. I'm afraid I got a little side tracked as well. Kya must have sent you a letter or two?"

I chuckled nervously as I waving a shackled hand at him.

"He's free to go after I've had a word with him, Tenzin. I have a few more questions for him. Tenzin? **Tenzin**?" Beifong called to him when he didn't respond. "You know him, Tenzin?" Beifong added when she noticed my Uncle's strange expression.

Tenzin swallowed.

"I believe that is a story for another time and place, Lin." Tenzin replied softly. He hadn't take his eyes off of me since he first noticed me. And yet, I got the strange feeling that it wasn't really _me_ he was looking at.

"Master Tenzin?" Korra asked tentatively having finally noticed that something was off.

"Yes?" My uncle returned to his senses, his glazed eyes once more focusing on her.

"Oh, I . . . We will be waiting outside . . . Jin. If that's all Lin", said Tenzin, turning to leave. Korea looked at me in worry, I smiled at her reassuringly. I'm glad she looked past the boner incident and stood up for me.

The Chief stared after the Councilman and the Avatar in bewilderment before shaking her head and taking her seat opposite me at the table.

"So, Jin of Arc City?" she asked with raised eyebrow.

"That's right. Do you need to see my papers, Chief?" I asked.

"No. I've seen them. I have a few questions for you, if you _don't_ _ **mind**_?"

Somehow, she gave me the impression that answering her questions wasn't as voluntary as her words might have indicated.

"Sure. Fire away."

"Your immigration form mentions that you are here to visit family?"

"That's right. I just visited my Aunt in Harbor City in the Southern Water Tribe. One of my Uncles lives here in Republic City."

The Chief flipped through the papers on her clipboard with a frown before dropping it onto the table.

"There are no records of you having family in Republic City. Are you _sure_ that's why you're here?"

' _What's with the inquisition?'_

"Yes, I'm sure, Chief", I answered with certainty. "The reason they aren't on your file is probably because I'm meeting them for the first time."

"I see." She muttered, making notes. "And this family is . . . ?"

"Councilman Tenzin."

Pause. The chief looked up from her clipboard and searched my face for signs of deceit. When she found none, she brought her hands to either side of her head and began massaging her temples.

"You mean to say that . . ."

"Yes, Ma'am. I am his cousin, Hakoda's son. I was kidna -"

"Yes, yes. I know the damn story. Thought your name was Hao though."

' _How the hell- ?'_

"Huh. I _thought_ that gasbag was floundering even more than usual today. Anyway, there's that theory shot, what a damn waste of time. You're free to go. I'll be speaking with Tenzin to confirm, of course."

' _Theory?'_

My mind swimming with questions, I got up, thanked her and made for the stairs when Beifong called me back.

"You eighteen yet, Jin?" She asked, grabbing a booklet from a nearby shelf.

"Nope! Four months to go Chief", I said with a questioning look. Ideally, I would have cracked a joke about me being a little young for her. But she didn't seem like the sort of person who could take a joke.

"Read this and stop by in four months if you're still in Republic City. Most of the rent-a-cop non benders I'm forced to hire to satisfy diversity requirements have no idea how to fight and keep calling in the Metal benders every time they need to bring in anyone more dangerous than a crippled old man. I could use a chi blocker with the sort of experience you have on the force."

' _How the hell does she know what experience I have? Bah, another time. Too many questions.'_

The scarred woman smirked as she tossed me the book.

' **Republic City: Laws and Guidelines for Dummies'**

Bemusedly, I thanked her for the job offer and left to collect my belongings from from evidence storage, where I met Korra and Tenzin once more.

"Councilman Tenzin, Avatar Korra!", I greeted Korra and Tenzin.

"Hey! Sorry for getting you in trouble", said Korra smiling at me, although I detected a hint of guilt in her tone. Beifong must have really gotten to her.

"Meh, it all turned out okay. Promise not to kidnap me again and we can call it quits." I said, grinning at Korra.

"Deal." Korra replied, smiling weakly back at me before turning to the officer in charge of animal control.

It was hard to stay mad at her. From the way Aunt Kya and Gran Gran went on about her, it was clear that she had never left the South Pole before and grew up secluded. She clearly had no idea how the world worked outside of the Water Tribes. I wonder what her trainers were thinking. Raising the Avatar to be a social retard?

"There's no need to be so formal, Jin. Call me Uncle. I insist." said Tenzin.

It took an hour or so for an officer to bring Korra's humongous mount back from the animal pound. It gave Tenzin and I some time to talk.

I had hoped to find a cheap place in Republic City where I could stay for the time being but Uncle Tenzin insisted that Air Temple Island was more than large enough to accommodate one more resident. I gave in after a few minutes of token resistance.

First impressions aside, I'd say we hit it off pretty well. Tenzin had plenty of stories about my father and a few of my grandfather, Sokka. I took the opportunity to broach the subject of my experience with Beifong.

"So, Ten . . . er . . . Uncle. I've got a few questions about what happened earlier."

My uncle looked at me curiously.

"When the cops brought us in, I was kind of expecting Korra and I to just get slapped with a fine of a few thousand yuans and get tossed out. No one was hurt and there was only a little property damage. Is it normal to get hauled in, slapped with unbreakable metal cuffs and interrogated in a metal room for something like that?" I asked. The questions had been burning a hole in my head for a while now.

Tenzin frowned and replied.

"Not normally, no. But I think I know why."

Tenzin paused there for a second as if trying to form his thoughts.

"You see, as idyllic as Republic City might seem from an outsider's perspective, there are factions within Republic City that are not happy with the way things are being run. Non benders mostly."

I frowned. I could see that happening. Most of the shopkeepers on that street in downtown were non benders and were probably harassed by the Triad. It made sense that a group of them would rise up in protest.

"But what does that have to do with the overkill back there? Was it to make an example of the Avatar?" I asked.

A small grimace appeared on Tenzin's face.

"Korra? Hmm . . . perhaps. Lin always did enjoy pursuing a challenge. But in this instance, I believe Chief Beifong's actions were more to do with you, Jin. I should have probably let her know that you were my nephew."

' _Me? What did I do?'_

My uncle was quick to elaborate.

"You see, there are groups of non benders all over the city protesting against the Triad violence and the inability of the Council to do anything about it. A good number of these non benders are part of an organisation known only as the Equalists and answer to a man known as Amon."

"I'm afraid I still don't see a connection, Uncle. Is it because, I'm a non bender?" I asked.

I must confess that confused me a little. I get that the police think these Equalists are causing problems but has it gotten so bad that they don't differentiate between non-benders and Equalists? I was starting to see disturbing analogues to Charlie's Earth.

"You're getting closer. While there have been a few instances of sabotage at the local power plants and a few other crimes that are unofficially attributed to the Equalists, most of their riots and protests have been peaceful . . . for the most part. There has yet to be an incident where a non bender used violence against the Triads in public. Not to mention, one with your Resume."

"What do you mean _my Resume_?" I asked.

Tenzin raised his eyebrow and looked at me pointedly.

' _Oh.'_

"Nations that are independent of the Bending Nations don't pop up on a daily basis, Jin. Especially ones with the population and resources of the Southern Republic. A number of important people were interested when President Gulon reached out to the other Nations to secure diplomatic and economic ties. Rumours of your feats in the Southern Republic have spread. Even now, books are being written and distributed that describe the reconstruction of the government and your part in establishing stability as one of the leaders of the Resistance. Lot of people know about you, Jin. Including Chief Beifong."

That was good to know, the street cred might come in handy at some point. But I still didn't get what that had to do with anything. Thankfully, Tenzin's explanation continued.

"You see, with the Equalist movement picking up in speed, I believe Chief Beifong found it strange that a well known, foreign, non bending revolutionary just happened to enter the city and pick a fight with the Triad."

Realization dawned.

' _She thought I was trying to kickstart a more violent phase of the non-bending movement.'_

It was one hell of a coincidence but Beifong's actions made sense, given the circumstances.

' _But why did Beifong just let me go? All I did was mention that I was Tenzin's nephew. Oh, right. No point in assuming that a Councilman's nephew is part of the Equalist movement that wants said Councilman to step down. Plus Tenzin and Beifong seem to have history.'_

We spent most of the ferry ride to Air Temple Island in silence. As we passed by Aang's statue on the way to Air Temple Island, Tenzin was lost in thought, staring at the statue of his father. I was wondering what was going through his mind when I saw him turn to look at Korra, who was stroking Naga's head while staring back at Republic City's skyline. I had tried speaking with her just before we got onto the ferry, but she wasn't in a mood to chat for long.

I couldn't blame her.

I didn't have a clear picture of what was going on but apparently Korra was supposed to wait for Tenzin to move to the South Pole to begin her training but got impatient and stowed away on a ship to come here to train in Airbending. I'm drawing interesting parallels to Tangled here.

"You're not sending her back, are you?" I asked Tenzin, breaking the comfortable lull and pulling him from his thoughts.

"The compound remains the safest place for her. The White Lotus can protect her. And keep her feet firmly on the ground, clearly her abilities have gone to her head." said Tenzin, frowning at Korra.

Ahh, the Dumbledore ideology. Keep her secluded, safe and humble. I shook my head.

"Look, I'll be the first to confess that I don't really know much about Avatars or how they are trained", I started, "And I don't want to make any suggestions but it's clear that Korra doesn't know how things work in the real world. That's probably what got us in trouble today, not any sort of arrogance. Why wasn't she trained here, anyway? Didn't Avatar Aang build this city?"

"Sigh . . . It was a decision made over a decade ago, in . . . a more dangerous time" he said, sighing, not going into any more detail.

I was hesitant to push for more. For one thing, he owed me no explanations, I might be his nephew but I'd just met him today and second, it wasn't like I hadn't made morally questionable decisions before. I had no right to question his own. Not without knowing the whole story.

#LifeLessons

We spent the rest of the ferry ride in silence.

Tenzin's kids were delightful, balls of personality and energy. They landed at the dock with gliders, hugging Korra and asking if she was there to stay. Korra looked at Tenzin despondently.

I empathised.

Remaining locked up in a secluded compound without friends (and probably family) was no way for a teenager to live. The way Aunt Kya made it sound, Korra had grown up surrounded by people decades older than her with nothing but training to occupy her.

It might have been her fault but Korra tried to stand up for me at the police HQ. I decided to give it another try with Tenzin to repay the favor.

"She might never learn about the world she's supposed to protect if you send her back, Uncle."

Tenzin sighed again.

I knew that I wasn't telling him anything he hadn't considered himself but I hoped that an extra voice might change his mind. Thankfully, it did the trick.

"Korra, wait!' shouted Tenzin, walking briskly towards Korra, who was being escorted to a Southern Water Tribe ship by guards.

"I have done my best to guide Republic City to the dream my father had for it, but you're right. It has fallen out of balance since he passed. I thought I should put off your training in order to uphold his legacy, but you _are_ his legacy. You may stay and train airbending here with me. I believe Republic City needs its Avatar once again."

"Yes! Tenzin, you're the best!" shouted Korra jubilantly, hugging the celebrating Airbender kids and then Tenzin himself, lifting him of the floor in a back breaking hug.

 **Crunch**

"You should thank Jin, he was the one who convinced me", wheezed out Tenzin, finally getting Korra to let him go. He immediately hunched over and gasped for breath, rubbing his back muttering "Lin's going to be furious."

Korra walked towards me.

"I . . . thanks," Korra mumbled awkwardly.

' _So, she's not totally over the boner incident yet. Pity.'_

"Your welcome. Besides, who's going to get me in trouble without you around" I said.

Korra grinned.

"To the kitchens. My minions will have sustenance." The little, bald kid cried out as he dragged the rest of us towards the Temple kitchens.

"Have you ever tried lychee juice in coconut shells? It's the best thing in the whole wide world", Ikki piped in as Jinora poured us some.

"No, Meelo. Not you." said Jinora, when Meelo tried to grab a shell. "Mom said no sugar for you after sundown."

"Treason." Meelo whispered as he sulked away.

Lychee juice? Huh, first time for everything.

"To new friends", I toasted, clanking my shell with Korra's.

Korra happily returned the toast.

"Welcome to Republic City, Korra." I said, sincerely, after taking a refreshing sip of the sweet drink.

"This is going to be awesome!", said Korra happily, having finished all the juice in one massive gulp.

We soon turned in for the night.

It had been a hectic day but the euphoria of being in a brand new place, with the rest of my life ahead of me, free of any responsibilities kept me up for a while. I lay on my bed till the wee hours, excited about immersing myself in the cultural diversity of Republic City while learning the ways of the Air Nomads. I wondered what adventures awaited me in the beacon of freedom that Aang spent most of his life fighting for.

' _This is going to be great.'_

I had no idea . . .

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Not much action here. Some dialogue. A little build up.

Quick reminder: Everything mentioned in this chapter is from Jin's perspective.

As always, please leave your thoughts below.


	6. Chapter 6 - I Want Thick, Juicy, Tasty M

**Chapter 6 - I Want Thick, Juicy, Tasty Meat**

"Pass the cauliflower, will you?"

I passed the bowl over to Korra and began to ponder the last few days in silence as I dug into my own . . . meal.

Air Temple Island was great. There were plenty of trees I could rest under as I basked in fresh air that was enhanced by the lingering fragrance of lavender incense from Air Acolyte meditation sessions. While the spartan furnishings and the hard bed would probably take some getting used to, the sole window in my room provided a truly spectacular view of Republic City's skyline, a view that I hoped I would never tire of.

I observed that the Air Acolytes were a truly diverse group of people, who came from all walks of life. Not all were born into the Air Temples. Some of them were born in the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes or the Fire Nation. Mired by the bogs of their materialistic lifestyles, they were inspired by the sermons of travelling acolytes to journey to the Air Temples in search of spiritual guidance.

While one might debate that Air Nomads led a fairly sedentary lifestyle, I would argue against the notion. There were Bison to be trained and fed, orchards, farms and gardens to be tended to and a myriad of other trivial yet necessary chores that needed doing, few of them were quick or easy to perform.

Immersing myself in Air Nomad culture these past few days was an interesting experience. I witnessed debates on moral philosophy between some of the best minds I had ever come across. I read about the evolution of Air Nomad society and how the discovery and eventual taming of the Flying Bison had changed their culture from scrolls salvaged from the ruins of the old Air Temples.

I watched Air Acolytes, young and old alike, practice Baguazhang and a few variations of the ancient Martial Art and even picked up a few tricks myself.

All in all, I'd say that I learned quite a bit during the few days I'd spent on the island.

Of course, not all I learned was to my liking.

My first lunch on Air Temple Island was accompanied by the bitter realization that Air Nomads were basically monks.

Monks didn't eat meat.

Thus, Air Nomads didn't eat meat.

' _Yeck. I want meat. Thick, juicy, tasty meat. Steak, pork. Hell, even fish would do.'_

I was in hell.

"Pass me the salt, will you?" I asked Korra, who obliged, casting a knowing, if pitying look in my direction.

' _Today's lunch is salty mush, yesterday's lunch was sugary mush, the day before was tasteless mush with a banana. I really can't wait for dinner.'_ I thought, bemoaning the lack of stimulation for my taste buds.

Aunt Pema was among the handful of cooks on the Island who cooked food that didn't taste like grass. And unfortunately for me and to a lesser extent, Korra, who was not as picky as me - Pema only cooked dinner.

"What do you say we head over to the arena tonight, catch a couple of pro-bending matches?" Korra asked me as she put down a newspaper. Korra seemed to have gotten over the embarrassment of the boner incident and we had gotten to know each other a bit over the past few days.

"Sounds good to me. Any decent teams this week?" I inquired.

Probending was something I had heard about a few times. I hadn't actually had the chance to catch a match, while it wasn't actually a recent invention, the sport hadn't really caught on in Arc City yet and long distance radios capable of picking up broadcast signals from Republic City were pretty rare in the Southern Republic.

"Absolutely not! That sport is a mockery of the noble art of bending." Tenzin cut in.

' _And Captain Buzzkill strikes again.'_

"Come on Tenzin. I've dreamed about seeing a pro-bending match since I was a kid, and now I'm just a ferry ride away from the arena." Korra insisted, pointing out to the Probending Arena across the bay.

"I would love to catch a match myself, Uncle. I'd like to get a look at more modern styles of bending." I added.

"Korra, you're here to complete your Avatar training and Jin, mother sent you here to learn the ways of the Air Nomads. Both necessitate a calm, quiet environment free from distraction, to wit, probending. So for the time being, I would prefer that the two of you remained on the island and focused on learning."

I gave up on convincing him. I learned pretty quickly that for an Airbender, my uncle could be surprisingly inflexible when the mood struck him.

"Is that why you're keeping them around to watch my every move?" Korra groused, gesturing towards the guards in blue and white clothing, who were eating at a table on the other end of the mess hall. One of them noticed us looking in their direction and waved . . . awkwardly.

' _I think I'll call him Awkward Guy.'_ I thought as Awkward Guy put his arm down when none of us waved back.

"The White Lotus is an ancient order that has guided, protected and advised several generations of Avatars and has better things to do than spy on you, Korra. They are here to keep you safe and provide you with sparring partners as you pick up Airbending. That is something they cannot do if you begin galavanting around the city." Tenzin affirmed, leaving little room for debate.

Korra's face fell.

' _Well, that blows.'_

"Cheer up Korra, you'll have Airbending down in no time", I reassured the dejected Avatar as we left the mess hall, "and then you can watch all the probending you want. You've mastered three elements, how hard could it be to master a fourth?"

* * *

' _Really hard apparently.'_

 **THUD. CRASH. SLAM.**

' _No, Avoid that, The path is open to your left. Your other left.'_

"Ooof. Ahh. **Yeowch.** "

Tenzin had Korra spend her first few days at Air Temple Island learning to meditate and practicing Airbending forms, trying to coax out her latent Airbending ability.

When Tenzin announced that he would demonstrate the first actual Airbending training exercise, Korra was excited, and to a lesser extent, so was I.

The training took place in one of the temple courtyards where the Air Acolytes had erected a platform upon which they assembled a series of thick wooden planks affixed vertically onto rods in the spiraling pattern.

Curious as I was about Airbender training exercises, I tagged along.

At this point though, I was starting to wish I hadn't.

 **THUD**! "Oof" **CRASH**! "Oww" **SLAM**! "Ughh".

Tenzin winced, Jinora groaned in sympathy and Meelo and Ikki -

' _Are smiling?'_

Korra proceeded to do a pretty accurate impersonation of a pinball as she ricocheted from panel to panel until she was tossed out of the gates on her ass, right back where she started.

"Ugh", Korra groaned as she got back to her feet, looked at the training platform angrily and went at it again. She barely got past the first set of panels before she was clipped in her side.

"Don't force your way through", Jinora shouted to her through cupped hands.

"Dance, dance like the wind", Ikki added.

"Be the leaf", Meelo shouted, waving his arms around.

My uncle sighed as Korra was once again tossed out of the panels where she had started, with a marvelous shiner.

"That's enough for today, Korra. This was only meant to be a demonstration of the exercise. We will continue this when you have a better grasp of circle walking." He called out when Korra made her way towards the platform to give it another go.

"It takes a few days to get a handle on this, Korra." Tenzin consoled Korra upon noticing her dejected countenance.

I took little notice of this, however. My attention was focused solely on the now slowly rotating wooden panels on the training platform.

' _Could this work for me?'_

The lucky breakthrough I made at the south pole in the field of Chi Manipulation had me elated at the possibilities for my future. My initial idea was that enhancing my perception and reflexes with Chi would allow me to fight a number of benders head on, without having to sneak around or use the environment to my advantage like I had in the past, allowing me to get close to them on open ground while avoiding their projectiles and long distance attacks.

It would allow me to even the gap, literally, metaphorically and metaphysically.

Unfortunately, my training had slowed considerably over the past week or so. The White lotus sentries all had jobs to do, Korra was busy with her own training and Airbender attacks weren't exactly visible enough for me to dodge. Without Aunt Kya or one of her assistants to chuck blunted icicles at me from a distance or set up moving obstacle courses there was little I could do to train my ability.

Until now.

' _To think that the Air Nomads would construct a device so perfectly attuned to my needs.'_

"Uncle", I called out as the group prepared to leave.

"It's probably unconventional, but do you mind if I gave it a go?" I asked when he turned to me.

My uncle pursed his lips as he cast his eyes between the training device and me.

"I don't see a purpose to the endeavor but you're welcome to give it a try nonetheless." He said and created a strong gust that sent the panels spinning rapidly once again.

While Korra had been racking up bruises, I had been pondering over the spiraling movements displayed by Jinora as she demonstrated the training device to Korra. Baguazhang was a Martial Art that I had little experience with. It was far too passive a style that relied on ideologies that I didn't put much stock in, on Earth anyway. But from what I had seen, I believed that I could mimic the movements of Jinora and the other Air Acolytes closely enough to get through the exercise.

Approaching the gates at a moderate pace, I began manipulating my Chi the way I had numerous times over the past few months. For a moment I felt light headed but as always, before I could analyse the feeling, the familiar sensation of slowed time washed over me, making me feel as though I was wading through water as my perception widened.

Avoiding the first panel was easy enough. As I entered the gates, I kept my feet close together and taking short, measured steps that barely skimmed the surface of the ground as I sidestepped and avoided the subsequent panels by mimicking Jinora's spiraling movements.

Just when I got three-fourths of the way through the gates, I slipped up.

It was inevitable, really. I had underestimated the exercise.

The interior panels spun quicker than the ones on the outskirts, the varied air flow throughout the gates made it difficult for me to anticipate the movement of each individual panel that was outside of my line of sight, despite my increased perception.

The wooden gates generated plenty of wind which caused wood chips to fly unceasingly, distracting me something fierce. The closer I got to the middle of the platform, the faster the wind blew, making it hard for me to keep up the unfamiliar footwork.

Eventually I slipped up and took too long a stride. One of the panels clipped my pivoting ankle and sending me toppling out. Thankfully, I missed the last panel in my way as I fell out of the gates, narrowly escaping the shiner Korra sported. I managed to use the momentum to roll back onto my feet without looking like an imbecile.

I let go of my Chi and immediately doubled over with my hands on my knees, panting from the exertion of manipulating my chi for so long, sweat dripping down my face. I checked my ankle for injury but was pleased when my inspection came up clean. It had only been around 12 seconds but I had already reached my limit. My stomach ached like someone had kicked it in. Probably due to the fact that chi was supposed to be generated in the stomach. Any longer and the particularly nasty consequences of overdoing it would have shown. But -

' _Perfect. This will do.'_

My hypothesis was successfully tested. This would be the perfect training exercise for Chi Manipulation, even if it wasn't intended to be.

"That was **incredible**.' A voice gushed.

I looked up to see Jinora jumping on the spot, gushing praise. Makes sense, I was probably one of the few non benders she'd seen get through the gates, even if I was technically cheating.

"Aww, I thought he'd at least get a black eye", said Ikki, sulking.

"Yeah, like Korra. They could be pirates." Meelo added.

' _Sadists.'_

I asked my uncle if I'd be able to use the device on a more regular basis, explaining to him the training I began with Aunt Kya. He looked a bit disconcerted as he responded.

"I . . . Yes." He swallowed. "You're welcome to it. You'll need one of us to set the gates in motion, of course. Meelo is not yet strong enough to do it himself. But I see no problems with you using the device." He said, gesturing to himself, Ikki and Jinora.

"Oh. Me, me! I mean . . . I'd be happy to assist." Jinora chimed in.

"Alright Jinora, Calm down." I laughed at her uncharacteristic exuberance. "I'll be sure to come to you when I need help."

As I calmed an excited Jinora down and walked back with the group for lunch, I couldn't help but notice that Korra was missing.

' _Huh, she must have gotten hungry. Those gates really take it out of you. Can spirit healing can take care of that black eye of her's?'_

The exercise had proven to be even more useful than I thought it might be. It had highlighted several flaws in _Quicksilver Mode_ , as I had taken to calling it (after Dante's Quicksilver style and Quicksilver, the villain/anti-hero from the X men comics). Naming it after Spider-Man might have made more sense but _Quicksilver Mode_ had a better vibe to it.

' _Ughh . . . I digress. Back to the flaws.'_

Firstly, the perception of my surroundings in slow motion seemed to made me more susceptible to distractions targeting my sight, such as the wooden chips that were flying around. It took an inhuman amount of concentration to force my eyes to focus on the panels that were about to swing into my face instead of involuntarily tracking the wooden chips that flew about in the gates and the almost hypnotic calligraphy on the panels. A potentially fatal weakness.

Secondly, I tended to overestimate distances while in _Quicksilver Mode._ This was something I noticed when I overstepped and got clipped by a panel. It might be the fact that I constantly felt like I was underwater but I had the tendency to use more force to perform any action. This made all my movements uneconomical and prevented me from taking full advantage of the enhanced reflexes that _Quicksilver Mode_ gave me.

With Jinora helping out, I would probably be able to correct those weaknesses while simultaneously increasing the time limit, 12 seconds is _really_ insufficient (talk about performance issues), through repetitive practice.

' _Heh, I'm pretty sure this isn't what the Air Nomads had in mind.'_

I spent most of the week getting used the Island, talking to the Acolytes and occasionally to Korra.I couldn't help but notice that our talks were suddenly awkward again. Either the embarrassment had made a reappearance for some reason or she was preoccupied with something else. Meh, I'd probably find out sooner or later.

When watching Korra fail miserably at the Gate Exercise lost its novelty, I occupied myself with the literature that had been painstakingly preserved in ancient scrolls in the Air Temple Library. One of Charlie's hobbies was reading, something that had crossed over when I woke up here. I even met an . . . interesting character in the library.

Of course, in between directing skirmishes with wannabe warlords and pirates every other week and simultaneously helping with the reconstruction of Arc City, I never really had a chance to read for relaxation until now. Delving into Air Nomad history and piecing together the events that shaped their culture was truly an interesting experience.

For a while.

Eventually even too that lost its appeal. There's only so much time someone as active as me can spend reading books and scrolls before it grates on them.

It had only been a week but boredom had begun to set in. I'd make a shite Air Acolyte. While I could understand the appeal of the Air Nomad lifestyle and enjoyed the peace, the complete seclusion was not for me. I'm glad I wasn't expected to actually become an Air Acolyte - just to learn and understand their ways.

Don't get me wrong. I absolutely adored the Airbender family, especially the kids. Even Meelo. The Air Acolytes were very kind and welcoming. I had even become fond of Korra despite whatever issues she had going on at the moment. But I needed some excitement. I had to get out there and explore Republic City before I died of boredom.

Maybe I could grab myself a nice, medium rare steak or some pork ramen while I was at it.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

A shorter chapter this time. It was longer but I had to split it up when I went over 10k words.

Jin's views on vegetarian food do not echo my own. I'm a lacto-ovo-vegetarian, myself. But there was this exchange student at my place that was unable to go even a week without some sort of meat. I don't particularly understand it, but there you go.

I'm certain some of you are itching for some action in this fic. I've gotten bored of writing slice of life scenes myself, but I didn't want to rush the story.

I'm not sure if you guys have noticed yet. But I'm trying to give the MC a tiny bit of a life outside of Korra. I find it a little weird how so many self/OC insert characters stick to the protagonists like super glue. You never see them apart.

Some of you might note that Jin is getting attached to his family remarkably quickly. I'd say that knowing that you once had a family but not being able to remember or even associate any emotion with them and then carrying on without any semblance of a family for a decade or two would do that to someone.

A couple of anime references in this chapter. Kudos to whoever figures it out.

 **Next:** A short omake followed by Jin's second time in Republic City. That one's going to be a long chapter because . . . well . . . shit happens. They both should come out pretty soon, I think.


	7. Chapter 7 - Interlude:Air Temple Library

This snippet is more of an interlude. You might even consider it an Omake of sorts.

 **Chapter 7 - Interlude: Air Temple Library**

The temple had a number of interesting acolytes. I even met an Air Nation otaku named . . . Otaku. Huh. I'd like to meet the one who named him and get myself a palm reading.

Anyway, the library which I had been shamelessly taking advantage of boasted a rather large collection of books and scrolls catering to an eclectic selection of topics, ranging from fiction and world history to ancient Air Nomad literature which was painstakingly replicated from memory by Avatar Aang and his associates.

Apart from reading books there, I also witnessed a few interested debates that began over a disagreement over the interpretations of a passage in a book or scroll. As someone who's morals basically boiled down to _**'Fuck with me, and I will fuck you up'**_ , I found that these debates opened my eyes to many different takes on moral philosophy that I didn't know existed.

The fact that an 10 year old acolyte was capable of holding her own in a conversation on ethics that went completely over my head gave me the faint suspicion that joining the Air Nomads automatically made you wiser than the rest of the populous.

I was thoroughly disabused of that notion in short order.

* * *

"A Critique of Pure Reason, A Treatise on Human Nature, What Money can't buy: An in-depth investigation into the daily life of an Air Nomad", I mumbled as I walked through the Aisle, discarding texts one by one.

' _Nope! Still the damn philosophy section. Dammit, why aren't there any signs?'_

Hard workers they might be but organizing the library was clearly not one of the chores Air Acolytes took seriously.

"I'm lost." I admitted aloud.

"Do you need some help, young man?"

I turned around to find an old monk with a gentle, if weathered face, smiling at me, carrying a few scrolls in his arms.

"Yes. My name is Jin. Are you in charge of the library?" I asked hopefully.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, young one. You may call me Brother Tai. I'm merely here for the scrolls." He said, gesturing to the scrolls in his hands. "But I do spend most of my time here, if you're looking for assistance?" He added.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks. Do you know where I can find anything on the history of Republic City. I just moved here, you see? I wanted to know a little more about the place."

"Hmm . . . As I recall, the history texts were placed somewhere there." Brother Tai said, pointing me a few aisles down. "Although, I'm afraid the aisle is also used to store copies of literature and poetry from the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation that don't see much use."

My face fell as I took in the size of the shelves. There were at least two hundred books in that Aisle, probably more. It would take hours to sift through them.

"Is there a anyone who manages the books? Someone who knows where I could find a book on Republic City's history?" I asked, I had no intention of searching the shelves myself.

The monk hesitated.

"Well . . . There is Brother Maiho who was meant to organise the books last week." He said. "But I wouldn't recommend requesting his aid. He is rather . . . eccentric." he added tentatively.

The old monk helpfully pointed out Brother Maiho, a middle-aged monk who was reading a scroll under a cherry blossom tree outside the library.

"I hope you don't mind if I don't introduce you, Jin. I'm afraid that I suddenly find myself in dire need of the facilities." He said, giving me an apologetic look before hurrying away.

' _Poor guy. He looked a bit constipated.'_

I approached Brother Maiho.

"Brother Maiho?"

The acolyte looked up at me and smiled. The sun struck his face just right, giving him a spiritually enlightened look. The cherry blossoms falling around him and the way his hands were clasped on his lap as he sat in a lotus pose only added to the vibe he gave off. I have to admit, I was awed for a bit there.

No homo.

' _Man. These Air Acolytes take the enlightenment thing to another level.'_

"Indeed I am, my good man. Who might you be?" he asked, in a calm, even tone as he put away his papyrus.

I snapped out of it to introduce myself.

"Good evening, my name is -"

"Indeed, a truly wondrous evening it is. You are quite the astute one for noticing. We have air to breathe, water to drink and food to eat. The sun shines high in the sky. The wind blows true and the universe has brought me yet another young soul to offer wisdom to."

"I . . . err . . . Thanks? My name is -"

"Of course! I thought I recognised you. Might you be the young nephew of our illustrious Councilman Tenzin?"

"Yes. I just arrived from the Harbor City in the Southern Water Tribe. My name is -"

"Ahh, yes the Southern Water Tribe, home to Councilman Tenzin's noble mother who blessed the world with more Airbenders. A truly beautiful place, don't you think?"

 **Twitch.**

" . . . Yes, it is. I was hoping to ask you if the library had any books on -"

"The Library. Ahh yes - the library. I remember watching my dear father, spirits guide his reincarnated soul, assist Avatar Aang in transcribing ancient literature for preservation. I have spent many days and nights perusing the knowledge that lies within its hallowed halls. It truly is one of its kind, the library on Air Temple Island."

"Brother Maiho, please. Brother Tai mentioned that you -"

"Ahh, Brother Tai. It has been too long since I last spoke with him. In fact, it has been a few days since I spoke to any of the Brothers and Sisters at the Temple. For some reason, they are always in secluded meditation when I call on them. I remember discussing the meaning of life with Brother Kaito just last week for a few hours. It's a pity he felt ill mid conversation and had to make use of the restroom. The poor lad must have eaten something that didn't agree with his stomach. He was unable to leave the facilities for four hours during which I waited on him so we could continue our riveting discussion. Incidentally, would you like to know the reasoning for my name? An intriguing tale, to say the least. You see my parents. . ."

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Sure, most of the Air Acolytes were wise. Truly, they were. Dedicating a good portion of their lives to understanding themselves and their connection to the universe was bound to have that effect on them.

Some of them, though?

Yeah, some of them were just fucking _born_ annoying.

* * *

 **Next** : Jin sneaks out to Republic City at night and . . . stuff happens.


	8. Chapter 8 - Conflict Resolution

**Warning: Violence, lot of foul language. Don't read if you aren't an adult.**

 **Chapter 8 - Conflict Resolution - It's Not a Soft Skill**

It might for my own benefit. You know, let me "meditate on the flow of energy in the universe without the distractions of city life" or something like that. It might have even been for Korra's benefit, to stop her from feeling like she was missing out. Whatever the case, Tenzin had been most insistent that I stay on the Island. Clearly he hasn't been talking to anyone in Arc City.

I don't take orders too well.

To ward off the mind numbing boredom that had begun to set in, I took one of the speedboats to Republic City. I wasn't missed. Air Nomads turned in for the night at an ungodly 9pm and avoiding the White Lotus Sentries wasn't exactly hard. I just waited for them to turn on the radio and took off when they weren't paying attention. For an Ancient order that's been protecting various incarnations of the Avatar for generations their security was surprisingly shoddy.

I rowed out of earshot of the Sentries and used the engine to get the rest of the way. I moored the borrowed speedboat at the docking area just north of Republic City Park for a small fee and made my way into the city proper. Surprisingly enough, despite the late hour, the streets around the Park were bustling with young couples out for a late night stroll and most of the businesses were still open.

' _Good thing they are, too. Now for my first order of business.'_

"Good evening. Welcome to Flamey-O's Noodles, the noodliest noodles in all of Republic City, may I take your order?"

The cute waitress waited by my table as I scanned the menu.

"How many toppings do I get here?" I asked, pointing to a menu item.

"You can pick up to 3 from the selection provided. Feel free to pick a spice level." She explained patiently.

"Ok . . . I want meat, er. . . meat and . . . errrr . . . more meat. Arctic hen, pork belly and Platypus-bear egg. Extra spicy." I rattled out, picking the items of the menu.

" . . . Any vegetables?"

 **Shivers.**

"No thanks. And please, don't use vegetable broth. I think I'm allergic." I replied immediately with a suppressed grimace. I had eaten enough vegetables to last a lifetime.

The waitress jotted down my order with an odd look on her face and in short order I had a steaming, glorious bowl of meaty goodness sitting in front of me. I broke my chopsticks apart and dug in with gusto not sparing a second glance at the waitress.

"An interesting selection of toppings. We don't get that combination all too often."

As I began scarfing down the noodles, I looked up to find out that the pretty waitress had taken the seat opposite me. I noticed that she was probably in her early twenties.

"Vonyugeintrovle?"

"I'm sorry?" She asked as she herself with a menu card, sweaty from her time in the kitchen.

Manners? What are they?

I wiped the drool with a napkin before repeating myself.

"Sorry. Won't you get in trouble? You know, for hanging out with the customers?"

I can't remember the number of times Gulon screamed his lungs off at Ming for flirting with customers.

"I think I've got a few minutes. It's a slow night." She giggled.

And I could see what she meant. At a glance I could tell that only a third of the tables were being used at the moment.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't ask. You don't mind if I sit here, do you?" She demurred, when she caught me looking around.

Normally, I would have. Despite living at the Air Temple for a week I generally preferred to eat my meals in privacy. I looked back at her and noted that her eyes were a vivid red that I hadn't seen before.

"Not at all, I appreciate the company. My name is Jin." I smiled. For her, I could make an exception.

"Jin, huh. I'm Song, Song Shu. You know, we don't get too many Air Nomads around here. I thought you guys were vegetarian. Do no harm and all that."

I frowned.

' _How did she . . . Oh.'_

"Oh! You mean the robes?" I asked, gesturing to my Air Acolyte garments, which I had neglected to change out of in my hurry to explore Republic City.

"Naa . . . I'm just staying at the Air Temple with my Uncle, Tenzin. I'm not an acolyte."

I took another bite of the noodles.

"Tenzin . . . You're Councilman Tenzin's nephew? So you're an Airbender, no you're not his son so . . . a waterbender?" Song inquired, her voice taking a strange tone.

I chewed slowly and swallowed.

"I wish. No, I took after my dad. No bending for me. I'm afraid."

"That's cool. I'm a non bender too. There's plenty of work for non benders in Republic City, you know? I know this guy who's working at a restaurant that's looking for help. I could introduce you if you . . ." She trailed off and looked at me pointedly.

I was confused for a few moments before I realized that she had taken my slightly bitter tone to mean more than I it was.

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's really nice of you to offer to help, but I'm not really looking for work. I'm just visiting my uncle." I reassured her.

"I just wanted to try flying once you know, like the Airbenders. I see it everyday at the temple." I explained whimsically.

It was a little embarrassing to admit. Here I was, hating the fact that I couldn't show off with bending as if it was a shiny new toy when there were people who either didn't have or lost their jobs because they weren't benders.

"You could catch a blimp ride next to Harmony Tower if you wanted to fly. You can get an overhead tour of Republic City for a pretty decent price." She said helpfully. I smiled back at her. That seemed like something I was interested in.

We chatted on and off for about half an hour before she had to get back to work. I left her a hefty tip when I left the restaurant. She might have misread my situation and assumed I was living with my uncle because I was penniless but one doesn't often meet helpful people like that. The chow was great too. I'd probably come by again sometime.

* * *

Having seen a bit of downtown already, I decided to take a cab past Republic City Park and got myself dropped off at Central City Station, located in the eastern reaches of Republic City. From what I had heard the Station was once a pretty important commercial hub of the City. Of course, with the popularity of Satomobiles and Cabbage Cars on the rise, the Station had become somewhat redundant over the last decade or so.

Naturally, there were a few who still relied on the old rail system to shuttle them between their places of work in Republic City and their residences in the neighboring towns. But for the most part, the once prosperous district seemed to serve as a hangout spot for the homeless, orphans and rebellious teenagers not to mention the more criminal elements of the city and us such was mostly unpoliced.

My main source of attraction to the place was the street performers that I was told were common here. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of them I found around the area. It was interesting to note that a good amount of the musicians and artists seemed to be from the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom, rather than the Water Tribes.

All in all, I had a pretty good time. It would have been more fun if I had invited Korra along, but she seemed to preoccupied with her Airbending training to be decent company.

As the time approached midnight and most of the performers returned home, I was analyzing the memorial statue of Fire Lord Zuko at the station's entrance and comparing it to his cartoon appearance when my sight seeing tour was interrupted by a bunch of monkeys.

"That's him, T. That's the guy that screwed up my shoulder."

' _Just my luck.'_ I thought sourly as I turned around to face three men, one of whom I recognised as the earthbender that was harassing Old Man Chung a week ago. The three of them were wearing similar clothing, green coats with brown pants, tucked into their socks.

' _Triad uniform, perhaps?'_

"This is it, Bull? He don't look like much."

I frowned as I looked up at the face of the one that spoke. He was over a foot taller than me. And a foot as broad, with biceps that wouldn't have looked out of place on Schwarzenegger in his prime, easily discernible through his dark green overcoat.

' _Roids. It's got to be Roids.'_

The thug that I chi blocked spoke up again.

"Yeah, he's definitely the one, Big T. Helped the Avatar when she stood up to us. That bitch even took out the bumper the hot rod we borrowed from Shin." He added.

The largest of the three tried to stare me down. Tried, being the keyword here.

I clenched my fists and smirked inwardly as I felt the adrenaline kick in, surging through me like a warm fire, preparing me to thoroughly kick all manner of bender butt.

' _Perfect. A decent ass whooping to end the night. Couldn't have asked for more.'_

"So you're the troublemaker, huh? Fresh off the boat, aren't you. I'm going to do you the favor of teaching you how things work in Republic City. See, no one messes with the Triads around these parts. Those that do, gotta pay the price. And I'm afraid you're going to learn the price, the hard way." Big T smirked, smacking his fist into his palm and cracking his neck.

' _. . . Fuck. I forgot.'_

"Okay. You got me. You see, er . . . I'm afraid I didn't catch your name, Mr Big . . ." I trailed off.

"The name's T. I put the T in Triad.", he boomed, folding his arms as his companions moved to surround me.

' _Don't laugh. Must not laugh.'_

" . . . Mr T. You see, I'm rather new in town and had no idea that you're associate there was a member of the Triple Threat Triad." I apologized quite sincerely. "I'm sure we can find a solution that satisfies all of us." I explained, not-so-subtly gesturing to a wad of cash that I pulled out of my shirt, making them pause. I could almost visualize the dollar signs appearing in their eyes which gleamed with unmasked greed.

I hadn't spent enough time here to get used to the fact that I simply didn't have the kind of authority here that I did in Arc City. Beating these pricks like a drum for all to see might have been satisfying but it would probably get me in trouble with Beifong again. Beifong would probably get involve Tenzin who'd see this as a reason to keep me on the Island. It wasn't worth the lectures. There were other ways to resolve this.

' _Best to talk my way out of this. These guys seem pretty simple. Pay them off, buy them a couple of beers, have a few laughs and they'll forget all about this. It's not like I don't have enough money to last a couple of lifetimes.'_

Big T smirked and punched his companion lightly in the shoulder.

"What's up with this guy, Bull? He looks **and** acts like a fucking pussy. You sure this is the guy that took you out?"

' _Let it go. Just Let it go.'_

Bull ran his hand over his head in embarrassment.

"Yeah, I can't believe I got beat up by this pansy."

' _99\. 98. 97. 96 . . . Breathe.'_

"I think I should add that it won't happen again. If you like we could discuss this further in private. There's no need to make a scene with so many people present." I said evenly, trying not to give away my annoyance.

T sneered at me once more.

"Smart choice, Jin. We know who you are, see. You're uncle's a Councilman, right? And an Airbender? Ha. Even Airbenders need to sleep don't they?"

' _. . . Did he just - ?'_

The remaining thug suddenly chimed in, the snake tattoo on his face moving grotesquely as he spoke.

"And the Avatar? Ha, hardly an Avatar, she can't bend air yet, can she. We'll need to take care of her next, Boss. With enough guys even she'd go down. Then we can _sample_ her _elements_. Right guys? Hehe . . ."

' _ **. . .**_ _'_

They laughed.

 **Twitch**.

"Speaking of that Tenzin guy. His wife's got that hot bod, don't she? Saw her at that press conference thing they did a couple o' years back. Pity she's pregnant now."

"Heh, I'd take her anyway. Not like it'd be hard. Air temple Island is pretty close, ain't it?"

That brought about another round of laughter.

 **Twitch**. **Twitch**.

I _smiled_.

"Mr T. There's this place I know of just a little out of the way. We can continue our discussion there. We wouldn't want any of these good people to think that something untoward is going on."

* * *

T was a fairly simple man. He had spent most of his 35 years of life with the Triple Threats. The previous leader got him off the streets as a kid, showed him the ropes and taught him how to make a quick buck. When Zolt took over the Triple Threat with the blessings of the leader, T's course of action was pretty straight forward: Follow Lightning Bolt Zolt. Even once he got a legitimate job, he helped the Triple Threats out on occasion. When Bull was hospitalized by a non bender, T was the first to volunteer to take care of the situation.

Did T like Bull? No, he didn't.

He found Bull to be impatient, reckless and annoyingly whiny for a man his age.

So, No. T didn't like Bull, couldn't stand him in fact.

But Bull was Triple Threat, so were Viper and Peng. Getting beat up on a street owned by the Triple Threat meant that someone didn't think they were to be respected, someone that needed to be taught otherwise.

"Why can't we just beat him up here?" Bull asked impatiently. "My shoulder still hurts at times."

"Stop whining, you shit. Didn't you see the Yuan that pretentious shit just flashed? We can't take his money if we rough him up here." said T.

"What's pretentious? And why not? Who's gonna stop us? That guy with the drums? Or maybe that guy with the guitar?" Bull retorted, pointing at the two terrified street performers on the street who scampered out of their way as the three members of the Triple Threat Triad followed Jin.

"Keep your voice down, fool. No, they won't. But when that bastard Saikhan comes after us, we can't use that "drunken fight that got outta hand" excuse we always do if we take the dough too. Zolt's protection only goes so far. You wanna be the one to explain to the Big Boss that he's got to blackmail another bunch of bigwigs because you was impatient?" T demanded.

Bull fumed in silence.

"Yeah. I thought so. _Or_ we could do what we _are_ doing right now. Follow him out of sight, beat him up, take his money and nothing comes from it. When Jin's found, everyone will know not to mess with us. We'll have set an example as Zolt asked and have our drinks covered for the next few months. Use that thing on your shoulders once in a while, yeah?" T whispered to Bull who didn't look happy.

"And if he runs? The goody two shoes doesn't leave his little island often. We won't get a chance like this again" Bull complained, staring daggers at Jin, who was walking ahead of them, blissfully unaware of the beatdown that awaited him.

The three of them had been waiting for word from the lookouts for over a week before they got the green light from Zolt.

"That's what Viper lent us Speedy for. There ain't no man in Republic City that can outrun him on land." Big T replied, gesturing to the third member of the group.

"No woman either." Speedy smirked, his snake tattoo twisting grotesquely on his face, drawing a laugh or two out of his companions who were familiar with his penchant for the more crimes of the more . . . _pleasurable_ sort.

"Look at that naive fool, he actually thinks he can just pay us off after what he did." Bull snarled, a vicious grin appearing on his face at the thought of paying Jin back for what he did to Bull's shoulder.

"Keep up now, it's just in here." said Jin as he turned, into an alley between two recently constructed buildings.

T paused. He noted with some satisfaction that they were in an uninhabited portion of Dragon Flats borough that was recently constructed and made sure no-one else was around before gesturing to his companions and following the brat into the alley.

"Time for yo' payback, Bull. Next up: the Avatar." said Speedy, wetting his lips in anticipation.

The three earthbenders walked into the alley and stopped. It was empty.

"Where'd he go? Is this a trick?" Bull shouted. Silence greeted him, broken only by faint echoes of his shout.

"I told you he'd run, didn't I?" Bull snapped at T.

"Shut up, you idiot and do something useful. Watch the entrance behind us and keep watch, give us a shout if you see something. Speedy, follow me." T barked out.

Bull fumed by the entrance, grumbling every now and then.

T noted that the alley was in fact a fairly long corridor. There were numerous wooden and cardboard boxes strewn all over the place. T and Speedy began sifting through the empty boxes and occasional garbage pile.

"This is the garbage dump isn't it? Heh, the piece of shit's actually scared enough to hide in trash. Hey, T. What do you say we just bring the walls down on this place. That should take him out right? " Speedy jeered.

"Yeah, and bury him under tons of rock **and** make a bunch of noise while we're at it. Why don't we just call the cops right now and save ourselves the trouble? Do you want that cash or not? Just keep searching. " T asked, not even pausing in his search.

 **Crunch.**

 **Thud.**

"What was that?" Speedy growled as he turned back.

 **Crack.**

"Bull, that you?" He called out.

 **Crack.**

"Bull?" Speedy yelled out.

There was no reply.

"Go check it out. If Bull's making a ruckus, shut the fool up." Big T ordered as he turned over a few boxes that might have hidden his target.

"Big T! It's Bull. You ain't gonna like this." Speedy called out from the entrance, interrupting Big T's search.

' _I gave that idiot one job. Shout if you see something.'_ T frowned as he made his way back to the corridor's entrance.

"What?" He grunted in annoyance as he came to a stop behind Speedy.

Speedy nodded at the ground in front of him.

"I . . . I don't think they supposed to look like that, Big T." He gulped as he backed away.

Big T followed Speedy's gaze to the wall. The first thing he noticed once Speedy got out of his way was the damage to the wall. Drops of scarlet trailed down the wall from a probending disk sized indent in the wall with cracks spreading out.

Big T frowned as he followed the blood trail down the wall to find his subordinate lying on the ground, bleeding profusely from his head. T tore a piece of cloth of Bull's shirt and dabbed the wound on his head.

Bull's shirt was partially torn, showing T what Speedy had been talking about. There were bony protrusions on Bull's shoulders, as if his arms were twisted severely or wrenched out of their sockets without breaking skin.

Big T kneeled next to Bull and put two fingers to his throat.

 **Bump. Bump. Bump. Bump.**

' _Still alive.'_ Big T exhaled heavily, relieved. Idiot he may be, but Bull rubbed shoulders with some of T's buddies. Big T didn't want to be the one to tell Viper and the rest that Bull got killed on his watch.

"You think it's that kid, Boss?" Speedy asked.

"He couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag. I'd fold him in half without breaking a sweat." Big T frowned. It had to have been someone else.

' _A friend? Yeah, makes sense. Maybe that Jin guy had a friend who followed us here?'_

"You never know boss, there was this cousin of mine who saw a friend get knocked out by this other guy. The other guy just poked him. Poked him! There's all sorts o' freaks out there." Speedy rambled, working himself into a frenzy.

"Quit your bitching and look for the kid. I'll see if I can get Bull to wake up." Big T commanded.

"I'm telling you Boss, this ain't normal." Speedy grumbled as he walked back into the alley.

"Bull." Big T murmured as he shook him. "Bull, wake up dammit." He lightly slapped him on his face.

Big T attempted to wake Bull up for a few minutes before pausing. Something was off. He hadn't heard Speedy grumble in a while.

"Speedy, you find anything?"

Silence.

"Speedy? Answer me, you son of a bitch."

When he didn't get a reply, Big T left Bull on the ground with the bloody rag around his head and ran back into the alley. In his haste, he tripped over something.

"Ouch! Fucking Box." T groused as he picked himself up and dusted himself off. He kicked the box angrily.

"Huh?" he muttered. That hadn't felt like a box to him.

T turned his gaze to the not-box he had just kicked out of his way. Due to the poor lighting, he could barely make out a human shape.

"Speedy?" He exclaimed as he got closer. Against the wall lay an unconscious Speedy, bleeding from mouth where T had just kicked him.

"Speedy! Wake up."

Sweat poured down Big T's face as he kept shaking Speedy's shoulders.

' _What's going on? Is it really that kid?'_

"Show yourself, you bastard." boomed Big T, clenching his cold, clammy palms.

He hyperventilated, the darkness of the alley played tricks on his mind as he recalled Speedy's tall tales of freaks who could shut people down with a touch. Dark images jumped to his mind unbidden: The boxes looked like they were crawling across the ground and the piles of garbage looked alive. Every squeak or movement of a rodent sent T's heart racing as he moved further into the dark alley, looking for his quarry.

"Come out where I can see you. **Coward.** "T yelled out.

"But I'm right here."

Big T's heart jumped to his throat.

He leapt away and slammed his leg into the ground, bringing up a massive rock formation at the voice, tossing up garbage and boxes.

Breathing heavily, he took a look at the damage. All he had done was break a few boxes and toss some garbage around.

"You missed", Jin whispered from behind him.

T slammed a hand into the stone wall next to him, making spikes jut out and skewer the little shit. The large earthbender turned around once more, expecting to see Jin's bleeding carcass impaled by the earth spike.

"Shoddy technique, really shoddy." Jin said, crouched under the horizontal spike that jutted out of the wall.

"Fuck you." T brought his feet apart and attempted to disrupt the earth beneath Jin's feet but before he could do so, his left leg was kicked out of place and he was thrown face first into the wall.

"For an earthbender, you have a disturbing lack of balance." Jin chided, nonchalantly dodging a hasty punch.

Unwilling to give in, T got into a stance. A large rock began to rise from the ground but the second he took his eyes off Jin, T felt a series of blows strike his side that knocked him to the ground, making the boulder to fall to the ground with a crash.

For the first time since he entered the alley, T properly laid his eyes on Jin who walked up to him and he was -

' _Smiling? He's enjoying this? To HELL with that.'_

"You've got nothing to smile about boy. I thought about leaving your family out of this but they're next." Big T jeered as he stood up, ignoring the stinging pain and the numbness on his left side.

Big T punched out with his right hand, trying to toss the boulder he had raised at his now visible target. Only -

Nothing happened.

' _Why? It's right there! Why?'_

Panic overwhelmed T as Jin smirked and continued walking towards him. The boy's eyes seemed to glow sinisterly in the darkness, sparkling constantly like clouds in a thunderstorm. It was as if lightning itself was confined within those cruel blue orbs.

T backed away, trembling as a sense of powerlessness began to overwhelm him.

' _What's going on?'_

He tried again, stomping on the ground and throwing a punch at the boulder.

The punch did nothing but bruise his fist.

"Why?" he cried.

The smile on Jin's face widened until it went almost ear to ear.

"What did you do to me, you freak?" T roared as he charged forward, swinging his good arm at Jin. His swing went wide as Jin ducked under it and got into T's personal space.

The last thing T noticed before darkness engulfed him was that the boy's wide smile didn't reach his cold eyes.

* * *

"Wakey wakey, Little T."

' _Huh? What?'_

T blinked his bleary eyes, trying to focus on the blurry person in front of him.

"Is Big T. Ugh. M'head. Whs' hapnin?" he said groggily. His sight was blurry, his head hurt something fierce and his mouth tasted of copper.

He blinked his eyes again, the once hazy Jin snapped into focus. But something was off.

' _What happened? Why's he upside down.'_

Jin said nothing, just squatted upside down on a . . . staircase . . . and pointed up.

T followed his finger. Up to the . . . ground?

"Aaaaaaah. Ughh. me go", He struggled when he realized that he was hanging upside down off the side of a building.

Try as he might, T was unable to break free from the rope . . . no . . . wire that bound him.

"Had a good rest, T? By the way, do you like the wire? It's what I used to put your buddy, Speedy to sleep. It's called a -"

"Let me go or I'm going to -"

 **Crack**

A fist slammed into the side of T's face, setting him spinning on the wire that held him to the side of the building.

"I'm afraid you're no longer in a position to demand anything, T." Jin said, massaging his knuckles.

"Look, just let me go. I'll put in a good word for you with Zolt. Make it so this never happened. That's what you wanted right? You don't need to pay me or anything." T coaxed.

"True. I didn't. Of course, you had the bright idea of bringing family into this." Jin said, putting out an arm to stop T from spinning and staring at him intensely.

"That was all talk, man. All talk. It didn't mean anything, I swear. Just let me go and I swear to the spirits, you'll never see me again." T begged.

He was being honest here. He had never once believed Speedy's insane ramblings about having a cousin in the Archipelago that got beat up by a non bender boogeyman. The idea seemed so far fetched. His stories seemed to make a lot more sense now that his life was hanging by a thread, literally. He never wanted to see this monster again.

"That's the idea, T. But first, you and I are going to have a little talk about the Triple Threats. The quicker you talk, the faster you get to go home."

"Look, I don't know anything all right. They just told me to out the beat on someone called Jin."

Jin looked at him closely for a second and frowned.

"I think you know more than you're telling me, T. I really don't like liars. Liars fall the ground and get their brains splattered all over the concrete." He said, reaching up and shaking the wire that held T.

For a brief moment, T considered telling him everything.

But his fear vanished when he remembered his ties to the Triple Threats, how Zolt helped him out when he lost a job and helped him put his daughter through school.

"I'm not saying nothing, especially to a stinking equalist." T spat. Contrary to T's fears, Jin simply smiled and placed his hand on T's shoulder.

"First of, I'm not an equalist. Second, did you know that there are a few points of the body where nerve clusters are particularly susceptible to external force?" He asked kindly, as if unfettered by T's resolve.

T blinked in confusion. Most of those words went over his head.

"This one's the easiest to reach under most circumstances." He added, patting T's shoulder.

"I hope you'll forgive me, but I find that this makes even the most stubborn people a more talkative." He said and squeezed with his fingers.

Fire. Fire was what T felt. Fire, burning its way through his shoulder and into his arm. Unable to stop himself, T felt a warmth in his pants as he lost control of his bladder as he screamed.

"Aaaaagghhhh . . . I'll talk. I'll tell you everything. Please, just stop." He screamed, unable to bear the pain any longer.

" **Yes, you will."**

T spilled it all. How Zolt had asked him to make an example of Jin for going against the Triple Threats. How Viper had lent him Speedy to ensure that Jin couldn't get away if he tried to run. How Bull tagged along for payback. He gave up the few safe houses he knew off, spat out all the illegal operations he had been involved in and even mentioned the fact that Speedy was well known within the Triad for stalking and raping women he took a liking to.

"Thank you, T. You've been very helpful."

"You're going to let me go? Please?" T whimpered, a sobbing mess.

"Yes! Of course, I will. Soon. But I have something I'd like to say to you first and I'm afraid you need to stay quiet while I talk. If I ask you something, answer by nodding or shaking your head, got it?" Jin said almost apologetically and raised his eyebrow at T, who nodded frantically in response.

"It's little embarrassing but this is something of a monologue and I can't have you interrupting me. You see, a long time ago, hmm . . . Now that I think about it, it might even have been in another life. Anyway, there was a time when I believed in good and evil. You know, in the way some people are good and some are evil? Are you following me? Don't talk, just nod." Jin warned T, who nodded fearfully, not wanting a repeat performance.

"But you see", Jin continued, "at some point, during my time in the Southern Republic, I came to believe that there isn't much of a difference between the so called good and bad people. Just different goals, a difference in ideology and such. Different shades of gray. Do you get what I'm saying here?" He questioned T.

T hesitated and opened his mouth to answer only to recoil at Jin's warning glare. He shook his head.

Jin sighed.

"I suppose that's too much to ask. Let's put it this way. Good people want something. Bad people also want something. Not always the same things but sometimes they can be. For instance, I can't say that I have ever met a truly evil person who has no interest in protecting his family, have you? Those sort of extremes are pretty rare aren't they?"

T hesitated once more before shaking his head and then nodding. Jin smiled.

"Good. See? We have something in common then. Hold onto that thought now, I'll get back to that point in a bit. Now, it might seem like I'm rambling from here on out. But please, do try to keep up, it's very important. You know the Southern Republic had some unrest a while back right?"

T nodded.

"Good. I wasn't sure you knew. You don't seem the type - Anyway, I was kinda involved in that struggle and learned a few things that come in handy once in a while." Jin explained to T. Once he saw that T was following, he continued, pulling something from his pocket as he spoke.

"For instance, one of those useful titbits is knowing exactly where to stab a person with say . . . a pocket knife like this one, so as to make death as slow and painful as possible." Jin spoke in a dark tone, flicking open the pocket knife he pulled out.

T trembled in his binds when he noticed that the pocket knife had dried specks of blood on it and almost lost control of his bladder again.

"I also learned the art of chi blocking. I wouldn't call myself a master, but if I really wanted to, given a few minutes, I could hit you in just the right places to leave you paralyzed for a few hours. Do you see where I'm going with this?" Jin asked.

T swallowed and shook his head slowly. Jin smiled.

"I appreciate your honesty, T. Allow me to elucidate. You know what I said about good and bad people? I just wanted to let you know that you and I are lot more alike than you think. Much like me, I'm certain you have family you care about, don't you? Of course, the difference between us is that I know how to hurt people a lot worse than you can ever imagine." Jin pointed out frankly, sharpening his knife with a stone.

T's eyes flew open in fear. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted.

"Parent's. No? A wife perhaps? Oh, there we go. And a son? No. A daughter then. Woah, we hit the jackpot there, didn't we?" Jin chuckled, reading T's face like an open book.

"Well we're getting somewhere now, aren't we. Don't worry. My monologue pretty much done. Let me tell you what's going to happen now. You're going to wake up in a few hours alongside those two, who are also alive by the way, and you're going to do something for me. I don't care what you tell Zolt, you could tell him what you've learned from me or you could keep it to yourself. But one way or another, you're going to ensure that the Triple Threat Triad **stays the fuck away from my family**. I think you're high enough in the hierarchy to do that, aren't you?"

T nodded frantically.

"Good, because if I find out that my family including Korra have seen any of you pieces of shit again, I'll pay you a visit. This time I'll paralyze you and make you watch as your wife and daughter bleed out _slowly_ and _painfully_ over the course of an hour, _begging_ for you to save them. Of course, it goes without saying that the cops don't hear about this, right? Nod if you understand."

Tears poured from T's eyes as he nodded his head so fast he felt like it was about to fall off.

"Great, then we have a deal." Jin smiled and wound his arm back.

 **Crack**

 ***Jin***

I untied T and laid him next to his companions. That was enlightening. I frowned as I considered the implications of what I had heard. I had clearly underestimated the Triple Threat's viciousness. I had assumed the Triads to be a bunch of local delinquents with too much time on their hands. The idea that they would be willing to go so far to maintain their image and reputation had rather disturbing implications.

Hopefully T would ensure that the Triple Threats kept out of my way for a while.

This matter bore further thought.

I reeled up the cable and placed it in my pocket. My trusty garrote wire/binding string, never leave home without it. It felt awkward not having it strapped to my wrist like I usually carried it, but I didn't want to risk it being seen through my loose robe sleeves. It would have probably raised a few eyebrows.

I looked over at the three unconscious thugs and frowned at the one with the snake tattoo.

"Speedy, T called him." I muttered, thoroughly disgusted by what T had told me about him.

Ideally I would have gone to Beifong with the information I had uncovered so she could put the piece of shit behind bars. But this world lacked the forensic technology prevalent in Charlie's earth. Matching a semen sample to a suspect's DNA was not possible here and I had no clue how it would even work.

It looks like he was going to get away scott free. I couldn't kill him, not that I was squeamish. It would draw the wrong sort of attention.

But -

"Rape Korra and Pema?" I walked up to him and smiled as I lifted my leg.

 **Crunch**

"Yeah, best of luck with that."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Boy, this chapter turned dark.

Bound to be a bunch of mistakes here. I wrote this in a hurry. Will probably come back to edit this later.

Leave your thoughts below.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"This isn't going to work, Tenzin. Something needs to change."

I paused, jaw dropped and eyes wide.

I had slept in and missed breakfast thanks to last night's escapades and was on my way to the kitchens to grab some fruit from the pantry when I heard a familiar voice from behind the closed door of Tenzin's study. A voice that was NOT my uncle's. Or Pema's.

' _Okaaaay, just keep walking. I heard nothing.'_

It seemed like a pretty awkward conversation to get caught snooping in on.

"I don't have the manpower to deal with this crap. My men are stretched thin investigating the series of power plant sabotage, the Triads acting up and the bandit activity on the outskirts, there is no way we can cope if yesterday's events become commonplace."

' _Phew, that makes more sense."_ I thought, relieved that I hadn't inadvertently caught Tenzin cheating on his wife. Beifong was here on police business.

' _Wait, yesterday's events?'_

I continued eavesdropping. Maybe it wasn't what I thought. Please let it not be about the goons I beat up!

"Now, Lin. I'm afraid there is nothing we can do about the protests. It is the legal right of all citizens, non benders included, to protest in a non violent fashion. I'm afraid you're people will be need to monitor each of them if the protests . . . evolve into riots. If manpower is the issue, I can bring up the topic of the budget at the next -"

"That's what you said the **last time** we spoke. All I got was a budget cut." Beifong snarled. "Do something about this, Tenzin. You can't hide on this Island and pretend nothing is happening anymore." She snarled, slamming the door behind her and stalking away.

I hear Tenzin sigh with frustration before leaving for the kitchens.

I was relieved to find out that Beifong wasn't here about the Triple Threats.

I was being irrational, there was no reason for Beifong to connect me with what happened last night. That coward, T wouldn't have spoken to the police. And even if he did, I'd probably get off with a slap on the wrist.

But it wouldn't do to get cocky. There were probably ways for the Triple threats to get even with me that I wasn't thinking off.

Time to put that information T gave me to good use.

* * *

My nose and upper lip itched something fierce as I adjusted my mustache with the help of the stained bathroom mirror. It was a fake, of course. Cheng Hao's body . . . _my_ body was cursed, or blessed some might say, with little to no body hair.

"There we go, I muttered, satisfied that it wouldn't get dislodged like it almost had a little while ago, when someone bumped into me. I pulled my jacket of the hook and put it on before exiting the restroom and headed back into the bar. It wasn't the fanciest place, it didn't have the best drinks or the best musicians. Heck, it didn't have any musicians, period. It was just a seedy hole in the wall with a phonograph in the corner, playing some boring old jazz tune that no-one was listening to.

Like I said, not the fanciest place. Neither were the patrons. But that was the point.

I wasn't here for the atmosphere. I entered this bar in disguise to look into the Triple Threats. According to T, this place was one of the places the Triads hung out. An unofficial neutral zone of sorts for the various organised crime groups.

While I doubted the Triads would make another attempt to jump me, I thought it prudent to learn more about them. Just in case my threats didn't stick.

"You're a young one. Haven't seen you around before. What'll ya have", the bartender drawled, noting that I didn't have a glass in front of me.

"What do you have on tap?" I asked promptly. I had no idea what drinks were served in this part of the world.

The barman filled a glass.

"Just the one."

I sipped.

' _There's a special place in hell for the guy that invented sour beers and for the barkeep that has only those on tap.'_ I grimaced as I put my glass down. It was unavoidable. I needed a drink to blend in and I despised bottled beers even more, regardless of brand or flavor. They tasted stale.

I nursed my beer as I surveyed the rest of the bar. In a room full of thuggish people with clothes or tattoos that proudly proclaimed their allegiance to some or the other gang or Triad, there were very few people that stood out.

' _What is he doing?'_

He sat at the corner of the bar, nursing a drink of his own. He had a plain face, wasn't too tall nor too short, his hair was parted down the middle. He was in every way, average. The sort you never really give more than a passing glance to. The type that blended into any crowd. Had he not had a guitar on his back, I might have overlooked him myself, as unobtrusive as he was.

Whoever this guy was, he had no business being in a pub filled with thugs and what were probably ex-cons, if we were going by the plethora of Jail Tattoos.

' _Is he eavesdropping? Does he want to die?'_

He was being subtle, far more than I had ever been accused of being, with the easy nonchalance of someone who did that sort of thing for a living. All that gave him away was his cocked head and the occasional frown, probably as he failed to catch a word or two. And I suspected that the only reason I noticed, apart from the guitar, was that I was actively looking for anything out of place.

My interest grew as he moved to another table and repeated the process, occasionally chatting with the bartender and a few of the patrons so as to not arouse suspicion.

Eventually he made to leave.

My spider sense tingled.

Okay, not really. I don't have one of those or hyper Intuition or an inner eye. But I had a hunch. Sometime's that's all you needed.

"Talk to me, Junior. What do you got?"

"Shipment details. Terra Triad's getting a package from the earth kingdom. Probably more Jade Bush oil, knowing those potheads. Ship arrives three days from now, small time smuggler. His cover should be Coal Trading. Who's the man." The guitar carrying informant boasted.

"Got a name for me, Junior? Not much I can do without one." The cop asked, pulling out a small pad and noting down the relevant details.

The informant visibly deflated.

"Nope. That's all I got, man. Intel's pretty rough with the Terra Triad ever since _you_ busted my inside guy for possession." an annoyed Junior replied.

"Don't blame me man, if you had told me he was your inside guy I wouldn't have arrested him." The Cop smirked. "Maybe you should consider letting me know who your sources are so I don't arrest them by accident." he added, hopefully.

"So you can go straight to them? You really don't think much of me. Do you, Kane?" Junior replied, amused yet annoyed at the blatant attempt to cut out the middleman.

"Just doing my job, Junior. Information brokers like you are a lot more expensive than confidential informants. Alright, let me know if you get a name." the cop replied, replacing his notepad and pen and forking out a small wad of cash.

' _Broker, huh?'_

I was debating the common sense of trusting an information broker when Junior's face lit up and began counting. His happiness was short lived.

"Sorry man, without a name that's all the payment, I can justify to the brass. Get me a name and I'll see if I can't help you out." The cop said insincerely before taking off, leaving behind a disappointed Information Broker.

' _Money huh, I suppose there's my way in.'_

I pulled off the mustache and stashed it away, came out of hiding and walked up to Junior.

Information brokers normally worked only with customers who come referred. I didn't have a reference. But I had money - lots of it. And it seemed like Junior didn't. Still it would be best to ease into the topic rather than barge in.

"Hey, Junior right?" I asked as I approached him.

"Who's asking?" Junior frowned but didn't take off.

' _Okay, good sign. Don't spook him.'_

"Name's Jin. You any good with that?" I asked pointing to the guitar on his back.

Junior's frown disappeared.

"I'd like to think so, you got a gig for me, Jin?" He asked smiling.

' _Okay. He's calm. He's suffered a disappointment. Doesn't have much money. Why? Why does he need money? Think.''_

I observed that he had decent clothing, he didn't look malnourished. He smells okay so he's got a place to live or he stays with a friend. His guitar looks like it's seen better days and that hat is dirty, frayed. It's been on the ground more often than on his head, probably. For collecting coins, maybe? A street performer, then.

' _Holmes ain't got nothin' on me. I can do this shit too.'_

"No I'm afraid not. Just curious, your guitar looks like it's seen better days though. You consider replacing it?" I asked innocuously.

"Eventually yes." He replied, warily. I noticed him glance around.

' _Looking for escape routes? Fuck. I spooked him.'_

I sighed and abandoned the subtle approach.

"Look, sorry about this but I couldn't help but overhear you talking to that cop. Something about the Triads." I began.

He pulled out a knife.

"Woah! Woah, there's no need for that. I'm no friend of the Triads, believe me. I'm councilman Tenzin's nephew." I said, raising my hands up reassuringly, when he brandished the weapon at me.

"What do you want." He said curtly, still holding out the knife.

"To the point, then. Look the Triad pulled some shit on me before and threatened my family. I wasn't exactly diplomatic in the way I solved the problem. I just want to make sure I have a heads up if they try to pull something again. You feel me?" I explained.

Junior hesitated.

"No tats, see? Plus, I've only just been in the city for a week." I said, raising my sleeves.

Gangs identified themselves by the tattoos they wore. It seemed counter intuitive to use an identifier so obvious, even stupid. But it was a point of pride for the Triads.

The tattoos seemed to embody their defiance: "You may suspect we're Triad, You may even know we're Triad, but there ain't nothing you can do about it."

It seemed voluntary but from what I had observed, those without the brands were not nearly as trusted as the others.

Junior relented.

"Sorry bout that", he said, putting away his knife. "Can't be too careful, you know?" He said nervously, referring to his side job as an informant.

"I don't blame you, Junior. I'd feel the same in your shoes." I said, putting my hands down.

"So, how can this humble artist be of service to you?" He asked, bowing flamboyantly.

"Like I said, Triple Threats aren't too happy with me. I think they'll stay away from me for the time being but I'd like to keep tabs on them. Think you're up to the task?" I challenged.

"Say I'm interested, and I'm not saying I am. What's in it for me? There 'r some wacked out psychos in the Triple Threat Triad. They ain't just potheads like the Terra Triad or book keepers like some of the other small timers. Seems like a dangerous gig, you know what I mean?" He replied, folding his arms.

"I assure you, Junior. I understand perfectly." I smiled. "You **do** want that new guitar, don't you? Do a good enough job and you might net yourself an Amp to go along with it." I added, pulling out a wad of cash, probably twice the amount he had gotten from that cop earlier.

"You got yourself a deal, moneybags."

Junior's information was a little more detailed than what I got from T. I noted down information on the few legitimate operations the Triple Threats ran and got a good map of Republic City's underworld. Junior would probably be my go-to guy for intel in the future. I extracted a promise from Junior to contact me if the Triple Threat Triad began moving erratically in exchange for payment on a case by case basis.

While I had a feeling my business with the Triple Threats wasn't over, I did feel a little safer. Hopefully, I'd get a heads up if they decided to make a move in the future.

Meditation had not always come easy to Charlie. That's a fact. He had been forced to spend a lot of time as a child in _Art of Living_ classes learning how to modulate his breathing, in hopes that it might help with his anxiety. I was surprised I actually retained those memories. But come to think of it, there was no emotion associated with them apart from boredom, annoyance and a small amount of scepticism which might explain why those particular memories didn't get zapped like the others.

 **Scratch. Scratch.**

"I think I'm doing it wrong", said Korra, breaking the peaceful silence.

"There's nothing **to** do", said Tenzin, maintaining perfect seated posture. "Let your mind and spirit be free, for Air is the element of freedom", he finished.

Korra snorted.

When prompted by Tenzin, Korra voiced out her annoyance at not even having the freedom to listen to the radio.

Tenzin pointed to Meelo, using him as an example.

"Why, just look at Meelo. Look at how peacefully he meditates", he said.

"Actually, I think he's asleep", Korra deadpanned.

"What", said Tenzin indignantly, finally opening his eyes.

"I concur. He's drooling, Uncle", I said, popping Meelo's snot bubble with a twig.

"Where's the cannons? Fire on the shark-squid", yelled Meelo fiercely, looking around before closing his eyes and falling asleep again, snot bubble and all.

"Well, at least he's got the relaxing part down", said Tenzin, rubbing his forehead in embarrassment.

"Whatever", said Korra with an annoyed look on her face, "none of this Airbender stuff makes any sense to me"

"I'm sure it's frustrating, but give it time. The teachings will sink in and one day they'll just click", he said, hoping to placate Korra.

It surprised me that Korra hadn't been able to pick up Airbending yet. Aang's primary element had been Air and he had been able to pick up waterbending as easily as breathing. Then again, maybe it was less about the elements and more about the mentality of the bender.

I remembered how hard I had in the days after I woke up in this world. My thoughts were all over the place. Paranoia, panic, anger, helplessness. My emotions overwhelmed me quite often. But I kept working on my meditation until I was able to sort things out.

I decided to offer my two Yuan. Maybe Korra could benefit from my own experiences.

"You know, meditating was a headache for me too, back when I first started", I said, gaining Korra's attention as well as Tenzin's.

"I was an panicky, hyperactive kid when I first began meditating and had trouble clearing my head. The more I tried thinking of nothing, the worse it got. So instead of even _trying_ to clear my thoughts, I learned to focus on just one thought over and over until I simply stopped doing it and my mind was clear. That normally worked pretty well."

"You mean focus on something so boring, you stop think of it eventually?" Korra said sardonically.

"Basically." I agreed without a thought. I never was a fan of that technique anyway. It was something Charlie had learned in his childhood, but it had never worked for him or me.

"If that isn't to your liking there might be another method you'd prefer. This one actually worked for me." I added.

"If focusing inward doesn't help. Try focusing outward. Get outside yourself. Concentrate on taking slow, shallow breaths and try to remain motionless as you focus on any external stimulus."

"External . . . stimulus?" Korra asked haltingly.

"Basically use any one of your senses to focus on something outside yourself. It can be anything as long as it isn't something you attach too much emotion to. That could derail your thoughts. You could stare at a flower, a wall, grass, the sky or anything really." I added.

Korra thought about it for a moment.

"What did you normally focus on?" She asked.

"Well, to be honest, the sense of sight was always a little too stimulating for me. So I would close my eyes and focus on the first thing I could hear. Most of the time, that was wind. The sounds it made as it blew, the audible traces of a breeze brushing past a building or a tree. Something like that." I finished.

"Does that actually work?" Korra asked skeptically.

"It does indeed, Korra", answered Tenzin, who had been observing our conversation. "Its an advanced technique that we Airbenders developed to gain a more closer connection to our element." He continued.

"In fact, beginners would often hymn a single note continuously and the sound would help them focus their thoughts." He finished, before turning to me.

"I'm impressed that you stumbled on Airbender meditation techniques by yourself, Jin." He complimented. I nodded back in thanks.

"They are normally the next step in the process but if you feel that the techniques might make it easier on you, feel free to give it a go, Korra." Tenzin added before returning to his meditation.

Korra nodded thoughtfully and gave it a go.

For a few minutes.

"Yeah, it's not sinking in yet." Korra said, getting up. "I'm gonna go get a glass of lychee juice."

Tenzin, Jinora and I sighed and continued meditating as Ikki sulked at not getting her own lychee juice and Meelo continued drooling.

' _I'll talk to her later.'_

* * *

I tried talking to Korra later but she kept finding reasons to be somewhere else.

At one point, I got tired of her avoiding me and it all came to a head at the cliff overlooking the ocean.

"Sorry Jin, can't talk now. Pema asked me to help her with lunch."

"Aunt Pema doesn't cook lunch. Pull another one."

"Master Tenzin wanted to teach me some new Airbending forms."

"Uncle's at a Council meeting, Korra." I deadpanned. "You and I actually saw him leave." I added.

"I need to -"

"Korra." I cut her off.

"Look. I've been as friendly as I can without acting like a creep. And we were getting on quite well, but then you started treating me like a leper. What gives?" I asked heatedly.

I'm not egotistical enough to demand that she be my friend. I get it. We're adults and not all adults need to be friends, hold hands and sing Kumbaya. But the constant avoidance, the occasional snark and the inability to even look me in the eyes had really started to get on my nerves. Especially since I didn't know why. Even the kids had started to pick up on the tension.

Korra's face had been growing redder as I spoke. She exploded.

"You want to know what's wrong? I'll tell you, what's wrong." She yelled with fire in her eyes.

First off, let me say that I wasn't scared. Really I wasn't. Shut up.

Alright maybe a tiny bit. But really, the very idea that Korra might try to hurt me was laughable.

Far from scared, I was actually awed by the effect the furious Avatar was having on our surroundings and couldn't help but envy the fact that even her bloody temper tantrums affected the environment.

"Have, you even **heard** Tenzin speak? It's always Jin, this. Jin, that. What's wrong is that I. Am. _Frustrated_. I've been giving it _everything_ I've got but haven't been able to get anything right at all. Then you come along, a non bender, and breeze through it all without even _trying_." She shouted, walking up to me.

Her frustration was made evident by the effects she was unconsciously causing. Waves began crashing harder on the cliff and the ground began shaking ever so slightly.

"I thought meditation would be a breeze, you know. Just sit there and do nothing. But you're better than me at even **that**. Did you know that when you meditate a couple of lemurs perch around where you sit? Tenzin said that's because you're **so** much more spiritually balanced than me. That even animals can sense how close you are to nature." She continued, with a mock impression of Tenzin's serious face.

Okaaaay, I did not know that. Meditation kept me from flipping out every time I got surprised. Why would I give a crap about what a couple of bird monkey things did while I meditated. Moreover, "spiritually balanced"? Yeah, I don't think so. There was probably another reason for it.

Korra seemed to be winding down.

"That's not all. You're a natural at the gate training exercise, you actually _like_ reading all those dusty scrolls and arguing about boring stuff with old people. Even the baby Bison took to you like you were their mother. But _me_? They just pooped on my boots." She said, swinging a half hearted punch towards my chest, which I caught.

' _Oh.'_

"It's like you were born to be an Air Nomad." She said swinging her other hand lightly. I caught that one too.

' _ **Oh.'**_

"And I . . . I'm just not." Korra whispered. She wasn't crying but it seemed like she was almost there. I just stood there for a minute holding her hands as she tried not to let the tears fall.

' _That's what this is about?'_ I thought incredulously.

"Are you done?" I asked, when she had nothing more to say.

"W . . . What?" she stuttered, blushing when she realized what she had done.

"I said, Are you done?" I repeated, letting go of her hands so she could step back.

I should bang my head on the wall for missing this. I was so used to envying Korra and just about every other bender for having super powers that it hadn't even occurred to me that the opposite might be possible. Being preoccupied with my own training was no excuse.

"Look I -"

"Did you know that Aang had trouble earthbending." I asked, interrupting Korra's apology. Time to get rid of this baseless inferiority complex before it takes root.

"Aang? Yeah, Katara mentioned that. I thought she was just lying to make me feel better though. " Korra replied, still blushing.

"It was no lie. You see, most Air Nomad principles revolve around avoiding obstacles, learning to take the easiest path to your goal. Aang was brought up under those ways at the -"

"Southern Air Temple. Yeah, I know. Where are you going with this?" Korra interrupted.

"Hear me out. The essence of earthbending, at least as most earthbenders understand it, is decisiveness. They cultivate and even celebrate the sort of will it takes to remain on your course and plow through any and all obstacles in your path to reach your goal. Its because of this mentality of earthbenders that you'll find the Earth Kingdom history texts rife with tyrants and heroes alike. Aang, who was brought up to see multiple ways to his goals and taught to always take the one of least resistance, was initially incapable of reconciling with this strange new way of thinking." I explained.

"How does any of this matter? Look, I'm a waterbender, my opposite element is fire and I picked that up in a day. Why is Air such an issue." Korra's frustration was returning.

Alright, let's wrap this up.

"Korra, that's a load of garbage. Your opposite element is Air, not Fire." I affirmed.

"What? But Master Kobe said that Fire was -"

"Look, I'm sure, Master Kobe of the White Lotus had your best interests at heart. But you need to understand this. Most waterbenders are adaptable people by nature and probably nurture too. They studied the tides - the pushes and pulls exerted by the moon on the ocean and learned from it. Too and fro, Push and pull, action and reaction, give and take. Is there any surprise that most waterbenders in Republic City are merchants or traders? Think about it" I told Korra, who I sensed was starting to get the idea but wasn't quite there yet.

I was hoping she would understand it by herself. Wisdom explained is wisdom diminished, and all that.

"I don't think I'm getting it." Korra said slowly.

Okay, direct it is.

"Korra, I'm not saying you're not a waterbender or that you're not adaptable. But you have to know that you're the most stubborn and result oriented person I've ever known. And I assure you, coming from someone who grew up around plenty of bullheaded earthbenders, that's saying something." I said, absently comparing her to some of the earthbenders I knew from the Resistance.

"Hey!"

"It's not an insult, Korra. Frankly, if you hadn't been wearing blue when we first met, I might have mistaken you for an Earthbender. It's no wonder you're having trouble with Airbending. You might have been born a waterbender but your mentality? Definitely that of an Earthbender's. It's going to take you time to understand Airbending, just like Aang took months to understand Earthbending. But you _will_ get there, just as he did. I'm sure of it." I concluded.

Korra brightened up a bit.

' _Wonder why no-one just explained to her. Did I just ruin someone's "throw Korra in the deep end and watch her learn to swim" moment?'_

Then came the apologies.

"Look. I'm sorry about all that, I didn't mean to take it out on you. It's just that I thought something might change, you know. Being stuck on this Island is no different from being stuck in the compound." Korra complained.

I considered her plight. While _some_ of her stress might stem from the fact that a _non bender_ excelled at _Airbending_ training when she did not and the feelings of inferiority that brought on, I believed that the root cause of her frustration was the fact that she felt trapped here. Maybe it was time to remedy that.

"Don't worry about it. You know -"

" **Meowhooooo. Meooowooooooo."**

Startled by the bizarre sound, I quickly cast my gaze to the sky and bemusedly watched as a strange hybrid creature I hadn't seen before, flew towards Korra and I. Some weird combination of a cat and an owl of all things.

I put out an arm, wincing as the freak owl landed and clenched my forearm with its talons, probably breaking skin.

' _Need to get that looked at.'_

I pulled off the piece of paper tied to its leg and read it in its brief entirety.

Got something for you. Today, same time, same place.

-J

' _Junior works quickly.'_

I glanced at Korra, who was unobtrusively trying to sneak a look at the paper which I quickly tucked into my robes. I needed to meet Junior at 11 pm. Maybe I could kill two birds with one stone here.

"So, I've sneaked out before and know how to avoid the sentries. You still up to catching a probending match with me, say . . . tonight?" I asked, turning to Korra.

The excited expression on her face was all the answer I needed.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Trying to establish contact with an underworld information broker is like picking up a really hot chick. You need references from her girls or you need a lot of money. Or you've got to watch your approach. But hey, if you don't have the references and screw up the approach, money will save the day for you 7 times out of 10.

Pardon the sexism, or not.

I don't know much about Art of Living, didn't research it one bit. All I remember is being forced by health freak parents to spend long hours doing yoga and breathing exercises.

Dialogue heavy chapter here.

Upon request, I've decided to include more more character interaction and dialogue rather than leave it to the reader's imagination. It blows up the size of each chapter. This would have been like 2k words at most, if not for the conversations.

Let me know what you guys think.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

 _My dear successor,_

 _I am old. So very, very old. I might not look it, but I feel it in my bones, my blood. My hands shake even as I write and I can feel my thoughts wander more frequently. I can no longer enter the Avatar state. I feel stretched, like butter spread over too much bread. It might be my battles that sapped me, spirits know there have been so many of those. Or it may have been my extended stasis in the Avatar state that sapped me off my life force._

 _Either way, as I add what might be one of my last entries to this journal on this 64th year of my life, or perhaps it is the 164th year should one consider my time on ice, I cannot help but wish that I had more time to experience the physical world in all its splendor. I have seen much during my short time in my current incarnation. I've watched mountains being created, glaciers melting and volcanoes erupting and so much else. Yet, of all the phenomena that I've witnessed and experienced, none can claim to be more awe inspiring moment than viewing the astounding endurance of the human spirit. I write not of one's chi, the cosmic energy that allows life to exist in the two realms we know off. No, here I speak of one's essence, their grit, their will._

 _This tale begins in the fourth month of the year 152 AG. 'Twas an early summer's day last year when the Republic City Council received word from young_ _Izumi_ _of trouble in one of the southern provinces of the Fire Nation. With a heavy heart, I closed up my jewelery store for the weekend and set off on Appa to quell the most recent uprising of Earthbender extremists who wanted retribution for the actions of the self titled Phoenix King Ozai during the 100 year war. Upon my arrival, I noticed with some degree of satisfaction, that my god-daughter Izumi already had matters well in hand. As the governor of the province where this newest rebellion sparked into existence, Izumi wasted no time issuing a Call to Arms and rallied her men and women to delay the threat until my arrival. With the aid of the Avatar State and the timely intervention of the forces from Capital City, it was not long before the terrorists were routed and the repair work could begin._

 _However, this expedition of mine did not end without further note._

 _As I aided in the reconstruction in the Ken Shou province, I also searched for survivors of collapsed buildings and landslides using_ _seismic sense_ _, a handy skill I had long since learned from Toph._

 _ **A note to my dear successor**_ _: Should you have already mastered the elements by the time you read this, I would highly suggest investing a portion of time to training in this very useful skill. It will come in handy at the strangest of times._

 _Anyhow, as I used the seismic sense, I was surprised to sense a seemingly healthy person resting in an intact house while all other able bodied citizens were out helping with the reconstruction._

 _Far be it from me to judge the survivor, I entered the house to reassure him or her that the threat had passed only to be greeted with a boulder to the face which I quickly dodged. My mood soured when I realized that what I had found was not a survivor but instead one of the extremists who had been able to escape the initial counter attack._

 _With it's foundation disturbed by the extraction of the boulder and the subsequent destruction of one of its walls, the building rapidly collapsed around the two of us, drawing an audience of concerned citizens. Thankfully, those who gathered had the good sense of staying away from the fight and leaving the matter to me. Tired of the senseless violence, I attempted to convince the stubborn earth bender that it was in his best interests to surrender. He was outnumbered and outmatched._

 _Despite his obvious distress, the extremist refused to give in, attempting to cause as much damage as he could before he was stopped, extracting boulders from the ground that he threw in every direction. His rage and despair continued to grow as I casually deflected every single one of his attempts to kill the crowd that had gathered around us._

 _The fight, if you could call it that, continued for some time. No matter how many times I threw him into a wall with a gust or pelted him with blasts of fire and water, he remained steadfast in his misguided attempts to kill everyone around us. Despite the pity and slight disgust I felt for him, I began to feel a grudging respect for his prowess. It might have been easy to defend the distant crowd from his attacks but I was unable to land a decisive hit on the sturdy earth bender without inflicting fatal injuries._

 _As the earthbender's despair reached a zenith and it seemed as though he would fall from exhaustion, I noticed a strange resolve in his fatigued eyes which gleamed a molten gold. In what seemed like a last ditch attempt, the young extremist bellowed in rage and the earth began to quake and shift around us as red, hot magma burst forth from the depths._

 _I was startled to a pause as geysers of lava sprung up all around the district, melting wood and metal alike. The lavabender was making a suicidal attempt to kill everyone in the district and in the process had carelessly revealed a flaw in his defenses. Recalling my predecessor - Avatar Roku's advice regarding decisiveness in battle, I wasted no time knocking out the distracted lava bender and quickly cooled down the molten slag that was flowing unrestricted throughout the city before it could hurt anyone._

 _Later, as we secured the extremist in chains alongside his cohorts, I couldn't help but admire the young lavabender's fortitude and inner strength despite finding his ideology repulsive._

 _Despite being surrounded by an audience of his foes who spat vitriol at him as he fought a hopeless battle against the most powerful bender in the world, if I do say so myself, the man stood steadfast in his beliefs, misguided though they were. In his darkest moment he found new strength within him as his talent for lavabending revealed itself, a talent that was once exclusive to the Avatar's incarnations._

 _It was not the first time I had witnessed or heard of such an incident. No, during my life I have personally experienced and viewed so many other moments just like this one, where, a helpless individual backed into a corner, changed or grew in previously unimaginable ways to tackle the problems he or she faced. In fact, the art of metal bending which has become so popular in recent times has its origin in such circumstances._

 _This is not a tale written to impart a moral like some of the others you might find in this journal but there are, in fact, many lessons to be learned from this experience of mine. So many, in fact that I believe it might be pointless to list them all._

 _However, if there is only one lesson you must understand, it must be the lesson Monk Gyatso taught me over a century ago. A lesson I did not truly understand at the time because I failed to realise that it also applied to those who would oppose peace with every fiber of their being._

 _Thus, the advice_ _ **and**_ _warning I have for you, my dear successor, is this:_

 _When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change._

 **Knock. Knock. Knock.**

I looked away from the journal I had been reading under candlelight and glanced over at the door that had been knocked ever so softly. I had almost forgotten what I had planned for the night.

"Come in", I whispered, mindful of the late hour. The door slid open quietly to reveal an excited Korra.

"What are you reading?" she asked curiously upon spotting the thick handwritten book in my hands.

"It's an interesting journal written by Avatar Aang. Have you read it yet?" I asked. If I were her, I would have utterly devoured anything Aang had written personally.

Korra made a face at that.

"Ughh, I've had enough of Air Nation history to last a lifetime, thank you very much. Tenzin has me reading that useless stuff all day."

Pity. I suppose it wouldn't have been much use to her anyway. Korra seemed like a kinesthetic learner than a linguistic one. Still I'd probably try to convince her to read it eventually. Aang might have believed in lot of stuff that I didn't put much stock in but his journal described many anecdotes that would no doubt be incredibly useful to Korra once she had mastered Airbending and began performing her duties as the Avatar.

"Suit yourself." I shrugged. I'd bring it up later though. No point in adding to her stress right now.

"Ready to hit the town?" She asked softly with a grin.

She had been fidgeting impatiently all night. Had I not distracted Tenzin and Pema with questions about the other Air Temples at dinner, they probably would have caught on. Although, I could hardly blame her. From what I had gathered she hadn't had a chance to cut loose ever since she was discovered by the White Lotus as a kid.

"To the dome." I grinned back at the excited Avatar. She wasn't the only one who had anticipated this though. This was the first time I would be seeing a probending match. There were analogues in the Southern Republic but nothing quite as celebrated as probending. Getting to watch benders _legally_ pound the crap out of each other in teams of three?

Shut up and take my fucking money.

* * *

Or not.

"What do you mean - Sold Out?" Korra yelled indignantly at the bored ticket vendor, who was lazily chewing some gum while reading a magazine.

The vendor's bubble popped and stuck to her face. She looked up from her magazine and picked at the gum sticking to her chin and nose as she shot an irritated look at Korra, who was steaming in anger.

"These are the qualifying rounds for the _Probending Tournament_ , love. Did you really think you could just waltz in at the last moment and get a ticket? Today's matches have been sold out for a week. You should have tried, like - a week earlier." she drawled out before going back to her magazine.

As upsetting as it was, that made sense. The only competition probending had in Republic City were illegal underground fights that were . . . well . . . illegal. Probending had a massive following all over the United Republic of Nations with people from even the neighboring settlements and towns travelling to Republic City by rail to catch the matches.

I really should have expected this.

"Surely, we can come to an arrangement? Perhaps a couple of tickets you might be holding in reserve, Miss? They would be understandably pricier, I'm sure." I smiled disarmingly, getting in between Korra and the vendor before she incinerated the booth.

The vendor pulled up her glasses and gave me the once over before smiling.

"Well ain't you a cute one." She demurred as she leaned forward.

' _Ughh, atleast call me hot or something. Men don't do cute, dammit.'_

Despite my slight annoyance, my anticipation grew. This sort of thing really embarrassed me but I really wanted to catch that match.

"But I'm sorry, Darl'. I've got no more tickets. Even for someone as pretty as you. The Probending Association is pretty damn strict with ticket sales." Another metaphorical arrow pierced my head at the Vendor's choice of adjectives.

I suppose this was the end of the night. For Korra atleast. I still had a meeting to get to.

"Minor set back. Want to try again next week?" I asked a fuming Korra as we walked back to the pier.

". . ."

Uggh, I was not looking forward to riding back to the temple on Naga. That beast had it out for me, soaking me in saliva every time she saw me. That stuff was hell to wash out. I had a faint suspicion that the freakish hybrid monstrosity was taste testing me until I was ready to eat.

Dastardly creature.

Wait. Speaking of the dratted beast, where's the owner?

"Korra?"

I turned around when I noticed her absence. Korra was staring at the dome. At an open window into the Arena, to be specific. I hope she didn't think we were climbing up there.

"No chance of that. It's too high up and there's no handholds. We can just come back next week. With tickets that we will buy well in advance." I emphasised in no uncertain terms. There was no way we could climb up there. None at all.

Korra turned to me and I backpedaled at the look on her face.

"Oh, No. Uh, uh. No freaking way -"

 **Splash.**

Korra ignored my ardent and articulate protests, grabbed me around the shoulders and leapt off the pier.

"Hold on tight", she said, grinning at me like a loon as she spun her arms around, creating a tiny whirlpool underneath us. I held on to her shoulders like a frightened koala as the water churned beneath us forming a water funnel.

I'm proud to say that I was the very vision of manly elegance and dignity as the water funnel shot us into the air at breakneck speeds and through the open window Korra had been staring at earlier.

Okay, I lied. I shut my eyes, kicked my feet and screamed like a little girl.

Stop judging me. I'm starting to get tired of benders and their alternate means of transportation. First Ming treats me like a potato sack and now Korra pulls this crap?

Korra landed on her feet. I, on the other hand, landed on my face. I can feel my man points draining by the moment.

"Nice. I think you might have woken the Temple up." Korra jibed.

"Next time, warn me." I tweaked my nose a bit to make sure it wasn't broken.

"Hey, if I'd warned you, you'd have run off. You've got no sense of adventure. Anyone tell you that?" Korra said, no doubt recalling the time _I_ tried to stop _her_ from getting us both arrested after _she_ fucked up with the Triads. Triads that _I_ had to deal with later anyway.

"I traded that in at the character screen for a sense of self-preservation. This sucks, I'm completely drenched." I groused, trying to shake the water off before I caught a cold. Republic City was pretty cold this time of the year.

"What?" Korra asked confused.

' _Oops.'_

I winced. No more gaming references, thats a good way to find myself in a straight jacket at the closest mental hospital.

"Never mind." Korra said when I didn't reply, "Here, let me get that for you." She aimed her hands at me and gestured upwards.

I grimaced and shivered uncomfortably as individual water droplets wriggled up my body and found their way out of the neck hole of my shirt. It was an incredibly disturbing experience. Incredibly convenient though.

We took off down the hallway to find an entrance into the arena.

"Hey! What's in here?" Korra asked as we came across a large room. It seemed to be a gym of some sort with punching bags, dumbbells, nets, water tanks, and sandstone disks lying all over the place.

"Looks like a probending gym, I think." I walked over to the equipment with Korra and tried some of it out.

" **Hey! What are you doing in my gym?"**

I looked up from the bench press to find a white haired old man with a towel around his neck glaring at us like we were . . . tresspassing.

Oh. Nuts.

"Distract him, I'll knock him out." I whispered to Korra.

"What! No!" Korra whispered back fiercely, grabbing my arm.

"Ouch, let go! I was only joking." I whispered back.

Our actions didn't go unnoticed. The old man became even more suspicious at our whispering.

"I won't ask again. Why're you in here?" He shouted as he approached us.

"Uh, we were just looking for a bathroom and got lost." Korra smiled sweetly at the old man.

' _Please. There's no way you can pull the innocent girl routine. Not with those biceps, hot as they might be'_

I resisted the urge to voice my thoughts aloud. Korra had sharp elbows.

"The both of you?" the old man smirked.

Korra looked at me, turned red and let go off my arm.

"Whatever, I'm sick of kids using my gym as a personal Love Hotel. I'm taking you two to security." He said, walking towards us.

I ignored Korra's stuttering protests as I got a better look at the old man approaching us.

' _Own's the probending gym, so former probender? Slightly hunched but his biceps and deltoids are well developed. Green clothing. Probably an earthbender. He's old so he's probably not too quick on his feet. An agile approach from blind spots would be best.'_

I was starting to seriously consider knocking the Old Man out. Getting caught here and escorted out by security would put a damper on the entire night. And probably all future nights once Tenzin heard about this.

Then again, knocking the gym owner out now would probably get me in trouble later on.

Thankfully, I was relieved of my dilemma when a probender walked through the doors of the gym.

* * *

"So, why'd you help us?" I asked the probender, once we left the gym.

"Eh. I've sneaked in here to catch a match before. Thought I'd help out a couple of kindred spirits", he replied with a shrug and a grin.

"It's just up ahead. C'mon!" He said walking ahead of us.

The lull in the conversation gave me a chance to get a better look our savior. He was a little shorter than me, about Korra's height, but a good deal stockier although it was hard to be certain since he was decked out in glaring red protective gear.

"What do you think? Best seats in the house, huh?" The probender asked as we entered another room. We were in the locker room, conveniently situated to give us a perfect view of the probending field. This was perfect, even better than the stands.

"That's what I'm talking about. This rocks." I said, clapping the probender on his back.

" Whoa! Unbelievable! This place is even more amazing than I imagined." Korra exclaimed, looking out the balcony.

"Name's Bolin by the way." The probender exclaimed cheerily.

"Jin."

"Korra. Wait. You're with the Fire Ferrets aren't you? We came here to catch your game. I've followed all your matches this year on the radio." Korra gushed excitedly upon recognizing Bolin's name.

At this point Bolin's teammates walked in, putting an end to his obvious preening.

"We sure hit the jackpot, huh?" I asked Korra, who was still staring down at the crowd from the balcony as Bolin spoke with his team.

"Tell me about it. I sure didn't expect this." She nodded in agreement.

"Hey, Korra! Jin! Get over here. I want you to meet my brother, Mako." Bolin called out from behind us.

"Sup!" I greeted the tall guy that Bolin pointed out to me. Mako was half a foot taller than his brother, good looking with spiked hair and weirdly enough, spiked eyebrows.

' _Does this guy actually gel his eyebrows?'_

"Mako? Wow, I heard you . . . play . . . on the radio . . ." She trailed off uncertainly.

My initial amusement over the image of the tall probender, glaring at a mirror while geling his eyebrows with a frown on his face turned to annoyance when Mako walked right past Korra's hand without giving either of us a second look.

"Come on, Bolin, we're up." Mako said, calling out to his brother, who glanced at us and shrugged apologetically.

"Yeah, sorry about that, my brother just gets real . . . focused before the match."

' _Focused is a kind word for it. Douchebag is more appropriate.'_

"That's alright. I guess we'll meet him afterwards." Korra said, surprisingly diplomatic for once.

"Knock 'em dead." I called after Bolin as the lift descended.

"What a jerk, huh?" I asked Korra, once the lift was out of sight.

"Who, Mako? I thought he was pretty cool." Korra said.

" **Introducing the Fire Ferrets."**

I stared at her.

" **Ahh! I love you Bolin! Ahh!"**

"You heard Bolin. Mako was just focused is all. It's the third qualifying round. If they lose, they're out of the tournament." She blurted out defensively.

I continued staring blankly until she blushed and looked away.

"Ugh, fangirls." I muttered to myself, earning myself an elbow to the ribs.

I shifted my gaze back to the arena just in time to catch the beginning of the match. I hadn't really had a chance to listen to a match on the radio before so I had to pick up the rules as this particular one progressed.

It wasn't too complicated, though. The probending field itself was hexagonal, split down the middle into two sides, one red and one blue, with each side divided into three zones. Both the Fire Ferrets and the Tigerdillos started out in the innermost zone, also called Zone 1 and tried to force their opponents out of their respective zones. Bolin bent brittle clay disks from 21 dispensers on the red side. The waterbender, Hasook bent short blasts of water out of grates that ran along the border of each zone. As far as I could see, there were no special accommodations to the Arena for firebenders like Mako which sorta made sense, seeing as how they could generate their own blasts of fire.

The firebenders seemed to stay on the offensive for the most part, blasting out short, straight streams of fire at their opponents to distract them while earthbenders and waterbenders usually prefered curved trajectories to attack from blind spots created by the limited field of vision offered by the compulsory probending helmet each athlete wore. The earthbenders and waterbenders took turns defending the firebender who had no defensive capability of his own.

The teamwork I saw from both teams was quite impressive. The teams exchanged attacks at a blistering pace.

And yet . . .

"Hey, Korra?" I poked the engrossed Avatar on the shoulder. "Why isn't Hasook using ice spikes. That's pretty basic, right? And they should pack a bigger punch than those water jets. Does it consume stamina to convert water to other states or something?" Because that might explain why Hasook didn't seem to be using ice at all.

Korra thinks about it for a second.

"I think so?" she said uncertainly. "I mastered most of my waterbending moves almost 9 years ago. I don't really remember how I was trained. But yeah, creating ice spikes should be pretty easy." She confirmed.

It wasn't just Hasook or his counterpart on the Tigerdillos that seemed to be holding back. I understood why the earthbenders weren't allowed to use the field itself. No, that would ruin the spectacle for the audience and cause a lot of property damage. But there was no sign of metal bending at all. The firebenders seemed to avoid headshots or wider sprays off fire to block vision and not once did I see anyone generate lightning.

Apart from the admittedly impressive teamwork, there were no unexpected individual moves from either side. They just seemed to be tossing standard attacks at each other, one after another hoping that one would eventually connect. There was no incredible show of power or anything of the sort. It seemed like the power and diversity of traditional bending was sacrificed for machine like speed, efficiency and painfully straightforward attacks that even a half trained monkey could dodge. It was probably enforced by the game rules for the safety of the audience and the participants.

This was . . . disappointing.

Earth Rumbles and Mock Agni Kais back in Arc City were more entertaining despite the obvious showmanship involved.

But a single glance at Korra's excited face told me that dissing her favorite sport would earn me a quick fall to the pool underneath the arena. I decided not to make a fuss over the obvious nerfing of the benders abilities in hopes of not getting drenched a third time that day.

Besides this particular event was more for Korra's benefit than mine. My goal tonight was to meet Junior at midnight. There were still a couple of hours to go.

Probending matches consisted of 3 rounds of three minutes each with a five minute break in between rounds. That amounted to a maximum of 19-20 minutes per match, not accounting for injuries or tiebreakers. This particular match was done in 15 minutes.

Soon after the match, I watched Bolin teach Korra a few tricks and both Korra and I had a good laugh at Mako's expression when he realized that he had just snubbed the Avatar.

"Had fun?" I asked Korra, as we walked out of the gym.

"Sure did. We need to do this again. Oh man, I can't believe I have to go back already." She groaned at the thought of heading back to the Island.

"Well, night's not over for me yet. I still have to meet a buddy of mine." I said, my meeting with junior weighing heavily on my mind.

"Who's this buddy of your's?" Korra asked inquisitively.

I was vague in my replies as shooed her off. I had no intention of getting Korra mixed up in my dealings with the Triple Threats. Besides, Junior was expecting me to show up alone. Seeing the Avatar might just give the overly anxious information broker a heart attack.

I made it to the alley just in time. Junior was already waiting.

"I see you've got a new guitar. You break it in yet?" I asked.

"Yup. This baby helped me kill it at a show today." Junior replied enthusiastically, stroking the head of his guitar lovingly.

"I'm glad. You know, when you said you'd get me a message, I didn't exactly think I'd get my arm ripped by a catowl. I expected a phone call." I gestured to the wound on my arm in amusement.

"Ahhh", he hissed when he saw the cut. "Sorry bout that, Mouse doesn't really hold back on his landings. I got him for cheap, you see. Bargain deal since he didn't complete his training."

"Your catowl's name is . . . Mouse?" I deadpanned.

"Well. He comes when I shout "Mouse" so, yeah. I guess." Junior shrugged.

I shook it off and got down to business.

"You have something for me? Is it the Triple Threats?" I asked.

Junior's mood sank a little.

"No. Well, yes. The Triple Threats seem like they are going to lay off for now. Beating up T, Speedy and Bull scared some of those guys pretty good. They're a powerful lot - the Triple Threats but Zolt is a cautious guy, he doesn't like to rock the boat too much. Not unless there's no risk involved."

He paused for a second.

"That's not why I messaged you though. There's something else going on. I don't know too much but there's been chatter in the Undercity about you."

The Undercity. The massive labyrinthine system of underground chambers and tunnels that ran under Republic City. Home to not just some of the criminal elements of the City but also anything the expatriate nobles from the other Nations and other wealthy citizens of the city deemed unseemly. The homeless, the orphans and the disabled all made their way there. The Undercity was basically the slums of Republic City.

"Who's blabbing about me and to whom?" I frowned in annoyance. Apparently beating up the ugly mugs the Triple Threats sent after me wasn't enough of a message for the other shitheads.

"Don't know who's doing the talking, Jin. It's definitely not the Triple Threats, though. But whoever they are, they're inciting the other Triads and a lot of other groups downunda. When word got out that the Triple Threats aren't going to make an example outta you to put them non benders in their place, a lot of people got interested. Some of them think they can take out the guy that's got the Triple Threats running scared. Boost their reps and all." Junior said nervously.

"Spit it out, Junior. Who's gunning for me?"

Junior hesitated.

"The Agni Kai Triad."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Sorry about the slow update. Had too much to do.

So Jin's not a huge fan of probending. Junior does become a little more important later on.

 **Keep in mind that this entire chapter was from Jin's POV**.

 **Next** : A short interlude dealing with the Agni Kai Triad. There is a little more going on behind the scenes that I'll try to reveal.


	11. Chapter 11 - Perspectives: Agni Kai

**Warning** : Introducing a few OC's here. Character summary at the end.

* * *

 **Chapter 11 - Perspectives: Agni Kai**

"100,000 Yuan? To take out a non bender?" Zhao exclaimed, losing all sense of discretion as he leaned forward on his seat, his bloodshot eyes almost popping from their sockets.

' _Chh. . . Idiot. We could have negotiated higher until that boorish display',_ Hayashi snorted derisively, in his mind of course. He was no fool. Despite Zhao's utter lack of subtlety, he did become the leader of the Agni Kais by force of might, if nothing else. Undermining him in public was asking to get your ass whooped.

Still, this was an unexpected amount. The Agni Kais were no strangers to roughing up non benders. A good amount of their income came from extortion, intimidation and clients like this one but this was the first time such a substantial sum had been offered for so easy a task.

"Indeed. Half before, Half after." The hooded gentleman spoke, opening a small briefcase at his side and placing it on the table. Zhao salivated at the sight of the Yuan neatly arranged in stacks within the briefcase. The rest of his crew were not much different.

"I believe this is how one does these things, do they not?" the gentleman added in a gruff yet pleasant tone as he pushed the open briefcase towards Zhao.

Hayashi was the only one who saw something off about the whole situation. He hadn't gotten to be one of Zhao's inner circle by being an idiot. What he provided to the Agni Kai was not more firepower, it was common sense. Without his intervention on several occasions, the Agni Kais would have long since fallen prey to one of Zolt's plots and vanished from the gang scene with naught but a whimper.

The clients who usually employed the Agni Kai, showed up with guards in case of anything unforeseen occurring. Furthermore, their clients normally hired them through grunts and rarely conducted their business personally like this one seemed to be.

Hayashi's suspicions were raised when a single hooded figure approached one of the Agni Kai safe houses in the Undercity with no guards. The suspicions only grew when the man spoke like he was well educated. He tried catching a glimpse of the man's face under the hood but all he was able to make out was a well groomed Fu Manchu. He would have asked the man to take off his hood, but that would have been too impertinent.

The Agni Kai needed no further motivation to take out the non bender that had beaten the crap out of three of the Triple Threats and had them scared enough to back off. The street cred alone would have them drowning in clients and new recruits before the month's end.

No, they needed no motivation. But still, the extra 100,000 Yuan would go a long way to helping them retake the territory they lost to the Triple Threats over the last year. They needed the money, desperately.

So, no. Despite his suspicions, Hayashi would not ask Zhao to deny the hooded noble or even question him regarding his motivation for putting a hit out on the unfortunate non bender.

But they needed to be careful about this. There was someone else they needed to consult.

Without further ado, Hayashi signalled to his boss. He couldn't help the slight grin that formed when he saw Zhao's lips tremble as the huge man pouted at having to wait. Zhao lost the grin and nodded back at Zhao. This was of the utmost importance. They would need to wait.

Zhao sighed and pushed the briefcase back to the hooded gentleman.

"You're not interested then?" The gentleman spoke. Hayashi could hear the frown in his voice.

"We are. Your offer is a good one." Zhao said.

"Then might I ask why - ?"

"The offer is a good one, and the payment, substantial. The Agni Kai's will discuss the job and how best to accomplish it and get back to you. Then, we would be happy to accept the first half."

"I see. Then my work is done. When you are ready, contact us here. We will be awaiting your call. I hope you don't wait too long. We do have other options after all." The hooded man, drew a card out of his sleeve and left it on the table before leaving.

"Was that really necessary?" Zhao asked Hayashi once their prospective client was out of earshot.

"100,000 Yuan for a non bender? C'mon Zhao. Your Mama didn't raise no fool. I need to speak with him." Hayashi replied.

"Sigh, 100,000 Yuan. It's like taking candy from a baby. Anyway, I bought you some time. Meet with the big man and make sure he's okay with this. If he isn't, make sure he gives us a damn reason this time." Zhao said aggressively.

"Will do, boss." Hayashi replied nervously and made his way out of the meeting room. There was a good reason Zhao wasn't their point of contact with the "big man" as he called him. Zhao's temper alone would have gotten him killed.

' _Phew.'_ Hayashi breathed out a sigh of relief once he left. Filled with firebenders with explosive tempers, hopped up on god knows how many different drugs and steroids the safehouse was a ticking time bomb that went off on a regular basis.

When he returned home, Hayashi picked up a phone and made a call.

 **Ring ring. Ring ring.**

"Hello."

"Sir, We need to speak." Hayashi spoke into the microphone of his rotary dialer.

" . . ."

"Sir?"

"Is this important?"

"I'm afraid it is, sir."

"Sigh. Very well then. Same place, 11pm. Make sure you aren't followed. You know how. I'll make the arrangements."

"Yes sir." Hayashi replied.

 **Click.**

Hayashi replaced the speaker of the telephone and prepared.

* * *

Hayashi didn't know much about their mysterious sponsor. Neither did Zhao or anyone else in the Agni Kais. He never showed his face and remained hooded whenever they met in person. He was probably some big wig from one of the other nations that didn't want anyone associating him with the Agni Kais.

Hayashi made his way to the store and greeted the shopkeeper.

"Say no more." Said the shopkeeper, having recognized Hayashi from the last time he was here.

"Watch the entrance while I get the key." the shopkeeper said, before going out back.

Hayashi monitored the entrance for a minute or so before the shopkeeper came back and beckoned to the nervous firebender.

"You know the way. Lock the door on your way out. I'm expecting the key back before I close tonight." said the shopkeeper before manning the cash register once more.

Hayashi nodded back to him and exited the shop from the back entrance and locked the door behind him, he had done this song and dance before. As he exited into the alley Hayashi pondered the meaning of these safety measures their mysterious sponsor insisted he follow every time they met.

It had been a few years since he had made contact. The mysterious sponsor had given them intel that had prevented the Terra Triad from taking over a good portion of their territory. Over the years he had somehow ensured that members of the Agni Kai Triad either got out of jail early or somehow were never convicted of the smaller crimes in exchange for the occasional job they pulled for him.

Hayashi was the Agni Kai's point of contact with him. Hayashi's role over the years as adviser to Zhao had changed. Where he once sniffed out potential conflicts with other Triads and kept the Agni Kais from starting something they couldn't finish, he now also sniffed out suspicious jobs and brought them to the attention of their sponsor, who never once gave them a name to refer to him by.

Hayashi broke out of his contemplation when he reached his destination.

 _Sir_ , as the Agni Kai had sarcastically yet fearfully taken to referring to their nameless benefactor, was once again sitting on a chair, waiting for him. As always, his face was masked and his head, hooded.

"I hope you had a good reason for breaking from our schedule, Hayashi. We were to meet two days from now, were we not?" Sir spoke softly, his voice carrying over to the other side of the room where Hayashi had just entered. Despite his pleasant voice, his tone carried a distinct threat with it.

"N-No. I mean yes sir. There was a good reason." Hayashi quickly corrected himself.

He approached Sir and quickly gave him the rundown of what had occurred in the Undercity safe house.

Sir clasped his fingers and placed them beneath his masked face.

"This seems like a good opportunity, Hayashi. Sit. And tell me, what exactly do you find strange the offer this gentleman gave you." Sir said, gesturing to a seat in front of him.

Hayashi was quick to sit and explain. He wasn't sure why but Sir always asked him to explain things to him, whether it was why an offer seemed suspicious or why a situation did not seem right. He couldn't be sure, but it seemed like Sir was grooming him to replace Zhao eventually.

Either way, Hayashi quickly pointed out all the points he had found strange, from the appearance of the gentleman and the way he spoke, to the overly large sum offered for the job. He even included his suspicions that the gentleman had been approaching other groups as well.

Sir remained silent for a time. And just when Hayashi started getting nervous, he spoke.

"Your target's name is Jin?"

Hayashi nodded.

"And your job is to kill him?"

"No sir, just injure him and leave him to be found in a public place. He wants it to be a spectacle, I think." Hayashi speculated.

"Ha. Hahahaha. **Hahahaha.** "

Hayashi was startled by the laughter that erupted.

"Do you know the client, sir?" He asked tentatively, once the laughter died down.

"No. Not the client. But I doubt he matters. What matters is the boy. The target." Sir said. Hayashi could practically hear the smirk the man donned under his mask.

"Are we out of bounds? Targeting him?" Hayashi asked nervously. Sir had stopped them from going after certain targets before. It would be a shame if that was the case this time.

"Out of bounds? No, no. Absolutely not. In fact an attack on him would serve my needs as well. But if I have a suggestion for you."

Hayashi nodded. Of course, when Sir said suggestion he actually meant he had an order for them and expected them to be carried out. Zhao wouldn't be happy about the _'suggestions'_ but he would comply with them.

"Provoke him into attacking you first." Sir said after a pause.

Hayashi frowned.

"Provoke him? Why? How?" Hayashi asked.

"Why, you ask. Hmm. Tell me, wouldn't it be interesting to be able to publically humiliate him and get away with it for once? With him throwing the first punch the police wouldn't be able to touch you. Your reputation would only increase and you would have satisfied your clients request."

' _That makes sense.'_ Hayashi thought, making a mental list of locations that would be perfect. They would strike when Jin was seen in any one of them.

"As for the how, well there's always what the Triple Threats did. Threatening his family should work well. The boy would turn into a raging bull if what I've heard is accurate. Not that that should be needed. I think the fact that you are the Agni Kai Triad should work fine by itself." Sir mused aloud.

' _The fact that we're . . . Did the Agni Kai hurt him before?'_

"Jin's identity as a non bender and the fact that he's a councilman's nephew only makes it more interesting. I'm looking forward to the chaos." Sir said before he shooed Hayashi away.

Hayashi pondered on Sir's final words to him as he left but didn't bother voicing his thoughts to Zhao and the others when he got back. It didn't matter anyway.

What mattered was that Sir had given them the all clear with a few additional requirements.

They had a client.

They had their target.

And soon they would have their money.

Because they were the Agni Kai and the Agni Kai never failed a job.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Sorry about introducing more OCs, I know people seem to hate them but, LOK's list of irrelevant side characters is incredibly small. There wasn't much room to work in so I made some more.

Here's a short summary on the characters that were introduced.

 **Hayashi** \- A youngish adviser in Zhao's inner circle. Also the point of contact with Sir. Thinks Zhao is an idiot but fears his strength and charisma.

 **Zhao** \- Hot headed leader of Agni Kai. All brawn, little brain. But he knows he's no genius and uses Hayashi for his ability to read between the lines.

 **Sir** \- Mysterious benefactor to the Agni Kai. They know little about him.

 **Hooded gentleman** \- A well educated man with a gruff voice who wants the Agni Kai to beat up Jin for 100,000 Yuan.

These characters may or may not make a future appearance.

Let me know what you guys think.


	12. Chapter 12 - Two can play at that game!

**Chapter 12 - Two can play at that game!**

"Ha . . . Ha . . . Ha" I doubled over, panting as I recovered from the exertion.

I straightened up once I had caught my breath only to be hit with a wave of nausea. I closed my eyes, shook off the dizzy spell and gathered myself.

"Thank you, Jinora. Once more, if you don't mind." I said, preparing myself for another round with the gates.

"You've gone through 5 times already. Don't you need a break?" Jinora asked worriedly.

I shook my head fondly.

Jinora had been helping me out with my training for the past couple of weeks. I had kept with training the _Quicksilver Mode_ and usage of this unusual skill had grown considerably since I had first started. While my the time limit had barely gone up my ability to make use of that widened perception had seen much growth. And it wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for Jinora.

Oh, she was fine with it - said that the training benefited her as well since she got to train her Airbending. But I knew better. Ten year olds who would give up their time to help their admittedly training obsessed second cousins were pretty damn rare.

Even now, her only concern wasn't the time she was spending but the fact that I might be overdoing it.

"I'm fine for another round or two, Jinora. Don't worry about it." I reassured her.

Jinora relented. I didn't blame her for wanting me to stop. In the beginning I could barely go through the gates once without taxing myself.

"Alright", I called out. "On my mark."

I closed my eyes and focused. I had done this five times already and despite what I had told Jinora - I was, in fact, feeling the fatigue. My legs ached something fierce and so did my torso. The sudden twists and turns I had to make took their toll. But I had to keep going. I **needed** to get stronger.

I exhaled slowly as I tugged on that elusive, silk like energy that flowed within me and felt the warmth spread throughout my body starting from my stomach. Warmth that then moved to my head where I began circulating the bulk of the energy I could control.

"Now." I signalled.

Almost instantly, Jinora let loose a massive gust of air that set the wooden panels spinning at incredible speeds, a good deal faster than I when I began training this way.

Not wasting any time, I leapt into motion. As I ran towards the gates, I felt the world around me slow to a crawl. Where before I could only see a blurred image of the rotating panels, now each of them appeared to rotate in slow motion. I got past the first three gates without a hassle and quickly adopted evasive maneuvers as the speed of the gates increased as I approached the inner gates and ignored the flying wood chips with practiced ease. As soon I got past the middle layer of panels, I felt a massive, painful tug in my stomach. The severe cramp like sensation was followed by a sudden headache that made me lose focus. Almost instantly, the slowed world I had gotten accustomed to sped up as the warmth in my head vanished leaving behind a hollow sensation, as if someone had carved out a portion of my skull.

I was quickly ejected from the gates after a few face first collisions and landed on the floor before Jinora.

"Jin", she screamed and ran up to me.

"I'm alright, I'm alright." I said as I got up quickly and patted the dust of my hair and clothes waving Jinora off.

"Another round, Jinora." I said, making my way back to the starting point.

"I . . . I don't think that's a good idea."

I turned around in surprise. Jinora bit her lower lip and looked at the ground.

"What? Why? Are you tired?" I asked in confusion.

Jinora looked up at me with a hardened resolve in her eyes.

"You're nose is bleeding."

I wondered what she was talking about. I lifted my hand to my nose and sure enough, it turned out that I was bleeding from my nose. Strange I don't remember getting hit that hard. The panels rotated fast but they were padded to avoid significant injury.

"Probably just from when I tripped and got hit by a panel. It's nothing really. I'll take care of it after another round." I tried to reassure her.

"No it's not nothing. You said that your nose bleeds when you overexert your Chi, right? You can't keep going like this." Jinora's shrill tone echoed in the courtyard.

' _Keep going on like this? What is she talking about. It's just training.'_

"Look Jinora -"

"Hey, quit hogging the platform will you? I need a go too, you know." I was interrupted by Korra who had been watching from the sidelines. I hadn't realized that. Maybe it would be a good idea to stop for now. The gates were originally for Korra's use anyway.

"Sorry about that. I guess I got a bit too absorbed." I apologized to Korra and Jinora. "Go ahead, I'll be hitting the punching bag for a while."

* * *

 **Sock. Sock. Sock. Thud.**

There was something incredibly therapeutic about hitting a heavy sandbag. Once you had used it enough times and the novelty wore off, your punching and kicking would become somewhat automatic. The rhythmic smacks of my fists, elbows, feet and knees against the heavy bag helped focus my thoughts and really gave me time to think about recent events.

 **Sock. Sock. Sock. Thud.**

Junior's information that the Agni Kai's sending a group of thugs after me had me feeling pretty annoyed. I had put the beatdown on Zolt's thugs in order to scare anyone who would try to pull the same crap in the future. Establish my position as someone not to be fucked with.

 **Thud. Sock. Sock. Thud.**

It seemed to have the opposite effect. Rather than scare away the other's, my aggressive stance attracted other asshats, crawling out of the sewers with a chip on their shoulders. I'd have appreciated the irony if it wasn't me in this particular situation.

 **Sock. Sock. Sock. Sock.**

' _What's with this anime-style bullshit? I'm half expecting to be challenged for the title of Strongest Disciple sometime soon. Fucking jobless thugs. If you're that bored, go read some porn or something. Leave me the fuck alone.'_

 **Sock. Sock. Thud. Sock.**

Jokes aside, I had no idea when they'd act. From what Junior told me I was somewhat certain they wouldn't risk coming to Air Temple Island to beat me up. That was too high profile and would most certainly bring the scrutiny of the entire police department on them, seeing as how they reported to Tenzin. No they'd attack me once I entered the city. Much like the triple threats they had shopkeepers, street performers, orphaned street children and others browbeaten or bribed into acting as lookouts.

 **Sock. Sock. Sock. Thud.**

No. That wasn't right. Not really. While it would be logical for them to avoid the Air Temple, I couldn't risk relying on any ounce of logic the Agni Kai possessed. They were hardly mathematicians. No, they were gangsters precisely because they weren't rational people. Besides, according to Junior, who's intel I quickly verified for myself, the Agni Kai's boss, Zhao was known for being particularly bad tempered and the Agni Kais as a whole were a bunch of steroid and drug using brutes with barely a dozen of brain cells between them.

 **Sock. Sock. Sock. Sock.**

I wouldn't put it past an idiotic, egotistical level 1 mini boss like Zhao to get impatient and attack Air Temple Island to get to me. I wanted to avoid that scenario at all costs. The best thing to do would be to face this "Hit Squad" somewhere in Republic City, where Korra, Tenzin, Pema and the kids were out of the firing range.

 **Sock. Sock. Sock. Sock.**

Junior had come through in a big way. He had gotten as much information as he could on the more popular members of the Agni Kai Triad. Some of it was public knowledge, some of it was unsubstantiated rumors and some of it was dug up from old police reports with the help of a cop Junior was on good terms with.

 **Sock. Sock. Sock. Sock.**

I didn't know who the Agni Kai were sending after me. I didn't know how many they were sending.

 **Sock. Sock. Sock. Sock.**

But I'd be prepared and I'd send them to the hospital all the same. If not the morgue.

 **Sock. Sock. Sock. Jin.**

I paused and stared at the sandbag. Perhaps I had hit it a little too hard? I could have sworn the bag called my name. I wound my fist back to hit it again and see if the unique phenomenon would repeat itself only for something to grab hold of my hand.

"Jin. Stop this. Enough is enough."

I turned around to see Korra clutching my hand, looking worried.

"What's wrong. Are you done with the gates already? You mind if I take over?"

I had this sudden feeling that I had said the wrong thing when Korra's expression became even more severe.

"Jin, whats going on?" she asked, schooling her expression.

"What do you mean. I was just training." I replied honestly.

"You call this training? Jin, look at your hands." Korra said, letting go off my hands so I could get a look at them. My training wraps were bloody. Through the gaps in the wrappings I could see that the skin around my knuckles was torn something fierce. The cause was obvious.

"Probably didn't do that wraps right. Its unusual but it happens." I smiled at Korra reassuringly.

"Knock it off. And stop smiling. It isn't the wraps." Korra shouted. "You've been at this for hours. Haven't you realized how late it is?"

' _Has it really been that long?'_

I really hadn't realized. I looked at the sun only to find that it had already gone down.

"Look, Jin. Something is bothering you. I don't know what it is, but it obviously has something to do with that friend you met a few days ago. What happened?" Korra questioned me.

"It's noth-" I tried to play it off but Korra wasn't having it.

"You have bags under your eyes. You haven't been sleeping and you've been overworking yourself so hard that even Jinora noticed and is worrying. That's why I pulled you away from the damn training gates. Now are you going to start talking or do I have to go to Pema?" Korra threatened.

' _Nuts.'_

Of all the threats she could have made. One of the first things I noticed about Pema was that she was surprisingly like her mother-in-law, Katara. She was incredibly kind, generous to a fault and a surprisingly good listener. And much like Gran Gran she had this way of ferreting out just about any information out of anyone. Then again, she raised the hell spawn known as Meelo so I wasn't particularly surprised by her ability to get to the truth.

"Alright, alright." I conceded. Korra talking to Pema and possibly Tenzin was more trouble than keeping the secret was worth. I didn't want Tenzin to find out about this, not until I had sufficient proof in the form of eye witnesses that I acted in self defense.

"It pretty much began with those Triple Threat goons we beat up when we arrived in Republic City . . ." I began my tale once we found a good spot on the beach shore.

* * *

 ***An hour later***

"So the Triple Threats wanted revenge so they sent some goons after you and were about to go after me next?"

"Yup." I affirmed.

"And you beat them up so badly for threatening me and Pema that they're still in the hospital and the Triple Threats came to their senses and backed off?"

"Mhmm." I nodded back.

"And now the Agni Kai is coming after you to prove that they're better than the Triple Threats?" Korra continued.

"Well, it's not quite that straightforward but yeah, that's it in a nutshell." I confirmed, not wanting to get into the details which even I wasn't completely sure about.

"And you kept this quiet because you didn't want to get me involved?"

"Yeah." I replied sheepishly.

Little more was said for a while. The beach was silent save for waves crashing softly against the shore and the occasional cry of seagulls flying above us.

 **Thwack.**

"Ow! What was that for?" I yelled, clutching my stinging cheek.

" _That_ was for leaving Air Temple Island and not letting me know so I could come along. Do you know how bored I was?" Korra said angrily, putting her fist down.

"Sorry about that." I didn't mention that I had thought about it but was dissuaded by that fact that Korra was avoiding me at the time due to her misguided envy. I didn't want another punch to the face.

The silence resumed for another minute. I had never taken a moment to actually look at the sea from the Island's shore before. It was remarkably peaceful.

 **Thwack.**

"C'mon! What was that one for?" I yelled, this time clutching my other cheek.

"You have to actually ask? I don't like being treated like a damsel that needs to be protected or kept out of the way. I've had enough of that all my life, thank you very much. I'm the Avatar. I don't need protection. I'm the one that does the protecting." Korra growled angrily.

"Alright, I'm sorry. Okay? Could we avoid any further violence? I've only got two cheeks and they are both starting to swell." I complained.

"Maybe when you stop being an idiot." Korra scoffed.

A more serious expression showed on Korra's face.

"Look. I get that you're this big bad revolutionary, alright? But I beat up two of the three thugs that were harassing that old man. This is my problem as much as yours. If you think I'm just going to hide and do nothing you've got another thing coming." She said firmly.

"But-"

"If you have any further complaints, I could always bring up the topic with Pema. I think you have two unbruised cheeks she'd take a paddle to." Korra shot a smirk at me, no doubt recalling the phantom pains we both felt when we saw Aunt Pema spank Meelo for farting over the food she prepared for dinner sometime last week. The poor hell spawn was limping for days.

"Alright, you've got me. We do this together. Deal?" I mumbled, resisting the urge to cover my ass.

Korra's grin was all the answer I needed. Oh that would change soon.

"Well, first I got this dossier you need to go over. Preferred techniques, capabilities, suspected crimes, family members etc. Memorize it."

* * *

Once I made sure, Korra had memorized the large dossier, and boy was that difficult, Korra hadn't been kidding when she said that her and books didn't go well together, all that was left to be done was convince Uncle Tenzin to let us leave the Island.

There were two women in the world Tenzin had a weakness for. His mother, Katara and his wife, Aunt Pema. Well technically there were three if you counted Beifong, but I think he was just scared of her. Anyhow, the second one is the important one here.

Aunt Pema rarely asked for much. She was an Air Acolyte. Those guys didn't exactly have too much in the way of worldly possessions. Their water was filtered at the Temple itself, they grew their own vegetables and fruits and cooked their own food. But there were a few things Aunt Pema refused to budge on.

She absolutely refused to wear anything made of shed bison fur as some of the other acolytes did. No, her clothes were made of processed cotton or wool and stitched by a personal tailor in Republic City. Also she was pregnant. Thus another bunch of chores was added to the list of tasks that required Air Acolytes to leave the Island.

Pick up Pema's clothes from the tailor. She just outgrew another set.

Pick up pickles soaked in vinegar and grape jelly from the market. Pema's having cravings again.

My studies at the temple had been going well. While I was nowhere near Otaku, who had probably memorized every damn book in the library, I could be considered a veritable font of knowledge on Airbender history and scripture.

Also, my impromptu lecture to Korra and the subsequent outing had done her some good. Her desperation to pick up Airbending had decreased. She was a good deal calmer and it showed in every meditation session we had with Tenzin. She also seemed to be picking up the Airbending forms Tenzin was teaching her at a quick pace.

In light of our recent successes, it wasn't too hard for Aunt Pema to convince Tenzin to let us take cares of the chores. Aunt Pema was surprisingly open to manipulating her husband into letting us off the Island for a change. Then again, the knowing look she shot us suggested that she knew that this wasn't the first time we had left the Island. I wonder why she didn't tell her husband.

I heard she joined the Air Acolytes later in her life. Perhaps she empathized?

Anyhow, during our trip to complete the chores, Korra and I had gotten lost repeatedly, _completely by accident,_ and strayed into several areas that I was certain were under watch by the Agni Kai. But no matter how many secluded locations we strayed into, we found neither hide nor hair of the inexplicably elusive firebending gang.

We really shouldn't have gone to the trouble.

Korra and I were walking past a well populated, busy and relatively wealthy district that according to Junior's intel wasn't under the thumb of the Agni Kai Triad when I noticed four people step out of the crowd and approach Korra and I. As if sensing the inevitable conflict the crowd cleared off the street - most of them rushed off, pretending they hadn't seen anything and a dozen or so remained behind to watch.

I got a good look at the three in front. Ganju, Keela and Torch. Junior's dossier had plenty of information on all three. Ganju, the bald one was of particular note. A firebender who had no problems, forgoing his firebending talent to crush his opponents with sheer muscle mass that was no doubt boosted by any number of anabolic steroids. He had a fierce hatred for the Triple Threats. Something about Speedy raping his wife, causing her to commit suicide. Terrible tragedy. But given the fact that he was trying to kill me, I wasn't feeling too sympathetic. He had a nasty temper too, side effect from the steroids.

Keela, a lightning bender. Proficient with firebending but prefers using lightning when in a pinch. She didn't look too quick on her feet. Korra should be able to dismantle her.

Torch, the nastiest of the three. Extremely slim and short. He was half a foot shorter than me and probably 50 pounds lighter. He was quick on his feet and dextrous with fire daggers. A bad matchup for Korra. A pain in close ranged combat for regular benders.

It's a good thing I wasn't a regular person, let alone a bender.

"So, Jin and the Avatar. It's been hard getting a hold of you two. You don't step out of your Island nearly often enough." Torch said, baring his yellowing teeth. Apparently the Agni Kais didn't get a decent dental plan.

Korra stepped forward.

"Well, we're here now, hoodlums." she said, laying down the challenge.

I winced inwardly.

' _Note to self: teach Korra to trash talk. Seriously. That was just . . . embarrassing.'_

That was when I caught sight of the fourth of the Agni Kai members, who remained behind the other three. He caught me looking at him and smirked. That tattoo. I recognised him, but not from Junior's intel.

I inhaled harshly as a tsunami of memories swept me back to the past.

" _Look at him, boy. Look. At. Him." Docata ground out as he grabbed my hair and shoved my face into a photograph. It wasn't a particularly ugly one, nor was it a particularly handsome one. It was average, in almost every way. The only thing that really stood out about it was the tattoo across the side of his face - a dragon._

" _His name is Kaiser. Look at that face, boy. That's the son of a bitch that killed your uncle, my brother" He whispered, forcing me to stare at the photograph. I didn't close my eyes. Somehow, he knew when I did that and made sure I didn't do it again. Painfully._

 _I had fainted while going through the forms Docata had shown me. It was hot and I hadn't drunk nearly as much water as I should have. Docata was not pleased._

" _Your purpose in life, is to avenge your uncle, my brother. You will not rest, you will not breathe freely until you accomplish that, do you understand?" He shouted at me, spittle flying from his mouth. I nodded fearfully, unable to stem my tears._

" _You know the rules, boy. You didn't do good today, so you're not eating supper. But it isn't your fault. Not really." He said in an almost kind tone as tears ran down my face unchecked._

" _This man", he said, pointing at the photograph. "This man is the reason you won't be eating today. He's also the reason you won't be eating tomorrow or the day after unless you Finish. Practicing. The. Damn. Forms." He yelled, tossing me into the corner and the photograph too._

 _I stared at the photograph hard as I rubbed the snot and tears off my face. It was all his fault. His fault I had to go through this. One day, when I escaped from Docata, I'd find this man and I'd kill him for making me go through this. I'd make it painful. My mind was filled with that thought. I felt nothing except -_

' _Hatred. He needs to die. He needs to -'_

"Jin."

I felt a tug on my sleeve. I turned to find Korra looking back at me, her eyebrows furrowed in worry. Crap, now I owed her an explanation. That would have to wait.

I winced at the pain in my hands and looked down. I relaxed my fists. I had clenched them so hard my nails had broken skin. I knew this was a possibility. The fact that the Agni Kai were after me was what had me so out of sorts the last few days.

I exhaled. This was not the first time I had been influenced by residual emotions and memories left behind by Cheng Hao after the stupid shit died of hypothermia but I hoped it would be the last. He was not a well adjusted child. Those memories and emotions had a way of messing me up. It's a good thing Korra snapped me out of it before I got stuck in my thoughts.

My mind calm once more (relatively speaking), I took in the situation like I would any other. I'm certain I had zoned out for at least couple of seconds but the Agni Kai hadn't taken advantage and still seemed to be insulting me.

' _Why?'_

"What's wrong, Jin. Hiding behind the big bad Avatar. You going to let a girl do your fighting for you, you pansy? Why don't you run back to Arc City like the pussy you are." Ganju taunted me, sunlight glinting off his bald head.

' _This makes no sense, do they just plan to insult me? Maybe Junior was wrong. Should I just walk away?'_

I frowned but decided to respond in kind. Best see what they had in mind. I targeted Ganju, who I seemed to be the easiest to crack with the information I had on hand. I felt sick using a woman's rape to get under a man's skin but hey, they started it.

"You talkin' to me, baldy? You look like a misshapen dildo, you ugly fuck! If I painted your head purple and shoved batteries up your ass, would you vibrate? Maybe then a girl might actually consider sticking around you without committing suicide but I wouldn't count on it."

There was a slight gasp from Korra beside when she realized what I was talking about.

The bald dildo bristled in anger, clenched his fists hard enough that I was surprised I didn't hear his knuckles crack. But he didn't attack. Kaiser stepped forward and grabbed his arm to stop him while Keela traded barbs with Korra on the side.

' _I don't understand. Weren't these guys supposed to be hotheads? What's with the sudden restraint?'_

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kaiser glance at the crowd.

I followed his gaze and spotted the person he was looking at. My eyes widened when I saw the man in the crowd nod at Kaiser.

"You know, the Triple Threats may have backed off, but we are Agni Kai and I think its time we showed -"

' _Did Kaiser actually ask permission to threaten me? So that's what's going on! It's not that they didn't see us enter their territory earlier today. They did. But they still chose this place to approach me. Why? What's special about this place? Wealthy, well populated, low crime because it's well policed. Policed? We just passed by the police precinct. They want to provoke me into attacking first since there's a police precinct nearby. Do they have someone on their payroll?'_

My thoughts took a darker turn but I didn't let on that I had any idea what they were up to and kept an angry expression on my face while I tuned out the obligatory threat and whispered to Korra.

"Korra. I'm going to say something that starts the fight. Get ready." Korra looked confused but she nodded. I didn't bother explaining any further. Korra had read the dossier, she had probably already figured out what I was talking about.

" - your place in this city. See, we know where you liv -"

"You know", I spoke up, interrupting Kaiser who was still holding back the bald dildo I was addressing. "Speaking of the Triple Threats I had an encounter with one of them last week. Guy named Speedy, you know him?" I taunted and watched as Ganju's face turned red and veins throbbed visibly on his bald head.

' _Just a little bit further.'_

"The guy was bragging about some of his "conquests", you know. Apparently he got to know your wife pretty well. Girl by the name, Tula? Yeah, he had her squealing -"

" **That's it! Let me at him!"**

Ganju snapped and wrenched his arm free from Kaiser's grip and punched him in the face. Kaiser fell to his ass and clutched his head in pain. Ganju roared and threw a fire blast at me, which I promptly ducked under, leaving it to splash harmlessly against the wall behind me, leaving naught but a scorch mark. The attack was thrown in haste and had no explosive power behind it as was normally the case, just plain heat. I could tell the difference from the color of the flame.

' _About time.'_ I thought, a smile growing on my face as the Agni Kai shot-caller in the crowd looked dismayed by the sudden turn of events and left quickly. I made a mental note to look him up in the future.

"Let's do this", I whispered to Korra.

We charged.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Spent about an hour and a half writing this. There's probably several errors and holes that I will fix later. I wanted to get it out now since I might not be able to write for a while.

For those who think Jin was too quick to get the gist of what the Agni Kai were up to, remember that he has been dealing with thugs like this for a while now and knows how they think. Most of them are simple and don't think beyond " **He's the enemy, let's fuck him up.** " That's what happens when you don't go to school past the 4th or 5th grade. If goons don't just charge in and attack, chances are that the encounter is being coordinated by someone considerably smarter than the thugs.

Ganju punched his own ally in the face: Roid rage coupled with the fact that Kaiser was stopping Ganju from killing the wiseass who mouthed off to him about his dead wife.

The only thing I could think off that I've overdone was Junior's ability to collect information without any explanation. There will be one. Just not for a few chapters.

Let me know what you guys think about the way the situation is panning out and provide suggestions as to how things should proceed. I have an idea on how things should go but there's never any harm in getting more opinions. Feel free to post any grammatical mistakes you find (or better yet, PM me). Thanks.


	13. Chapter 13 - Perspectives: Saikhan

**Warning: You will find differences from Canon here.**

 **Chapter 13 - Perspectives: Saikhan**

There were 37 distinct precincts that enforced law in the United Republic of Nations. All supervised by the 3rd precinct (one of four in Republic City). And it just so happened that someone in the HR department had the bright idea to organize a retreat to Su Oku resort for some of the administrative mid level employees, meaning that the one's who normally reviewed incident reports coming in from the other 36 precincts and filed them appropriately, were nowhere to be found as the paperwork kept growing.

Despite how mind numbingly boring the job was, it was essential to avoid a backlog unless one wanted the precinct to fall apart - which was why Saikhan found himself wearing his reading glasses in his office on a Saturday at 6 in the evening, picking up the slack for his absentee employees (for which there would be a reckoning), when he had promised his daughter he'd be at her . . . game, regardless of the fact that he considered it an utter waste of her time.

" _Case 3462: Equalist Riot - Location: Power plant, Republic City, 3rd Precinct . . ."_

 **Flip**.

" _Case 3479: Equalist Riot - Location: Power Plant, Yu Dao, 9th Precinct . . ."_

 **Flip**.

" _Case 3482: Equalist Riot - Location: Mining facility, Makapu, 16th Precinct . . ."_

' _Finally - that's the bloody riots done. Now for the other Public Disturbance cases'_ , Saikhan thought, putting the stack of reviewed case files away before pulling out another set. The depressingly large number of files filled with Street Violence reports were stacked nearly to his eye level. After taking a moment for self pity, Saikhan got back to work.

 **Flip**.

" _Case 3490: Street Violence - Location: . . ."_

 **Bang**

"Sir! We just got a 415-T on Kwong's street! Level 3!" The door slammed open and Kane burst in, pulling Saikhan's attention from his new stack of incident reports.

Saikhan frowned. Kwong's street - that was a block south from the precinct. And a 415-T? A Public Disturbance, more precisely - a Triad related public disturbance. Level 3 - so three to five benders?

"Tch! Another one? Put a response team together and deal with it." Saikhan ordered his subordinate.

' _How many times has it been this month? 15-16? Why on earth would they start something a block away from one of the precincts?'_

Sensing Saikhan's worsening mood, Kane left the office immediately.

" **We've got a 415-T, people. Laila, Asheer, Ban - you're with me. You - find Kai and have him meet us outside. Let's go! Go! Go!"**

The job of these response teams was fairly straightforward. The composition was based on a recommendation by the previous Avatar, Aang. According to his proposal there were three parts to the job that the response team needed to accomplish.

The first part was to deal with the attack itself - the teams typically consisted mostly of _Strikers_ , a nickname for the better trained combat veterans (mostly metalbenders certified by the Beifong Metalbending Institute) capable of facing threats like the Triads without flinching and a single trained negotiator, should a hostage situation arise.

The second part involved _Shapers_ , a lesser known subgroup of civilian earthbenders hired by RCPD. Their job was to repair damage to the environment that usually accompanied a bending skirmish where elements were thrown around haphazardly.

The third part also involved dealing with the aftermath of the incident. The teams normally had a waterbender capable of spirit healing and delivering first aid to the victims of the attack.

The numbers usually differed based on the threat level. A level three incident like this one called for 5-6 Strikers, a Healer and a single Shaper. At least that's the decision Saikhan would have made. This would be a good chance to test Kane's decision making abilities.

Saikhan sighed as he recalled the first of the Triad cases this month. How could he possibly forget? That incident had been particularly high profile - it had involved the Avatar, after all. Not to mention the 80,000 Yuan in damages to an Antique clock store and a ripped up street that still hadn't been completely repaired.

' _What Tenzin was thinking? Raising the Avatar in the boonies.'_

If that hadn't been enough, a non bender had successfully - not to mention _very_ publicly defended himself against a member of the Triads for the first time in recent history, delivering what was an admittedly deserved beatdown in the process. What made matters even worse was that the non bender in question was a particularly important celebrity in the South, notorious for being one of the revolutionaries that brought order to the Archipelagos. His "heroics" had incited even more non benders to refuse to play by the Triads' rules. The Triple Threats and the Red Monsoons didn't like that. Not one bit.

They started coming down a lot harder on the defiant ones in their respective territories, making the already fatigued response teams work even harder to keep up. Law enforcement in the United Republic of Nations collectively employed close to 10000 employees. But even that significant figure was utterly insufficient in policing a population that was several millions strong.

To top it all of that naive _moron_ Tenzin wouldn't let Saikhan crack down any harder on the Triads in fear of provoking further conflict and the Chief bought his ideological nonsense or at least seemed to be tolerating it. Unfortunately, Tenzin's naive approach only incited a few of the downtrodden non benders to take matters into their own hands when they were denied justice. A mistake they didn't really get to learn from when the Triads got their hands on them. While things had not progressed too far, Saikhan did not like to think about how matters would proceed unless there was a change in how the Triads were dealt with.

' _Apathy to the unfortunate breeds vigilantism, vigilantism breeds anarchy, anarchy destroys society. To think, all those lives could have been saved if the council would let us do our damn jobs.'_ Saikhan thought, cursing every council members and 15 generations of their blasted and ancestors.

Saikhan hoped that Kane might resolve this particular incident peacefully.

Just thinking of the additional paperwork that was being generated on Kwong Street was giving Saikhan a headache!

* * *

' _Perhaps I should stop asking for the impossible.'_

"Why? W _hy_ is Councilman Tenzin's nephew in an interrogation room, Kane?" Saikhan asked, his voice muffled by the hands that covered his face in exasperation as he looked away from the annoyingly calm young man seated at a table inside the room on the other side of the one way mirror.

"He was one of the . . . er . . . victims, Sir. Avatar Korra is in the Room 4." Kane provided helpfully.

"Is he injured? Burned?" Saikhan asked.

"No Sir. Neither is the Avatar."

Saikhan sighed in relief. At least something was going right.

"So you got there in time to stop the fighting? Thank the spirits. The last thing we need is more equalist outrage over a prominent non bender being hurt."

Kane grimaced. "Not exactly, Sir."

Saikhan frowned questioningly.

"He provoked the Triad into attacking him and caused a severe disturbance. Here's the preliminary incident report, Sir." Kane offered, passing Saikhan and thin file.

Saikhan opened it and browsed, his headache making a reappearance.

"What do you think, Sir?" Kane asked Saikhan, hoping Saikhan

"This is the second incident he's been involved in, isn't it?" Saikhan frowned.

"Third, if we are to believe eyewitness accounts of an Air Acolyte walking away from a spot where Triple Threat thugs were found unconscious. There's precedence. It's no coincidence." Kane replied.

' _Always looking for an angle, this one.'_

"Your so-called eye witnesses are drug addled street rats who probably haven't had a good meal in a few months. In short, they aren't eyewitnesses. Don't bring that incident up. Focus on today." Saikhan ordered.

"C'mon, Boss. It's obvious. The attack took place right next to the precinct and he was clearly provoking them into attacking him. He knew they were coming. I can at least get him for disturbing the peace. Did you even read what he did to them? One of them isn't ever going to use his arm again. This kid is guilty." Kane cried out in annoyance.

"When I'm old enough that my sight starts to go, you'll be the first to know, Kane. Right now, all I see is self-defense, if overzealous self-defense. Unless we have clear proof that he was aware of the attack beforehand and did not inform the police, he's going to walk out of here in a few hours. Get him to spill and I might actually be able to swing something past the Chief and that fool, Tenzin." Saikhan said.

Kane suppressed a snarl and walked into the interrogation room intent on getting the answers he wanted. Although hints of his dissatisfaction were clear as day to Saikhan

Saikhan frowned at his subordinate. Kane was never the most honest of cops. He used any and all means to put his suspects in jail. He was overzealous - no, that wasn't the right word. While his actions would be somewhat understandable and perhaps even tolerable if his motive was in fact justice, Saikhan had the distinct feeling that Kane was only interested in moving up the ladder and would stab him in the back in an instant if it got him a raise let alone a promotion.

If only watching out for a slimy snake of a subordinate was the worst part of his job!

Saikhan sighed and got back to his abundant paperwork. The past few months hadn't been good to him. He had probably aged 5 years in as many months. A few more months of this and whatever remained of his hair would turn grey.

With the equalist movement in full swing, an incident like this could only breed more violence and instability. The equalists would use this as an excuse to escalate and the elitists were no different.

So the question Saikhan had to ask himself was: Did he really believe that Jin was a member of the equalists? After all, it made sense. Jin was well known for being a revolutionary and the fact that he had had encounters with the Triads three times he had been seen in the city was one hell of a coincidence to explain away. Jin could have easily have planned the incidents to stir up the non benders on behalf of Amon. The results of his actions seemed to support that theory.

But when it came down to it, Saikhan thought it was more likely that Jin was simply a headstrong rebellious teenager who didn't give two craps about the long term consequences of his actions. Jin being a member of the equalists was even less likely if one considered that most - no, all of his relatives were benders.

But the reason, Saikhan didn't stop Kane from hounding Jin for answers was simple.

Even if he wasn't an equalist, the police needed the boy out of public view somehow, preferably by tossing him in jail for a few weeks, before any more vigilantes began crawling out of the woodwork, adding to the equalist cause and giving him more paperwork to go over.

Blasted paperwork!

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

This chapter is immediately after the fight, by the way. The fight will not be covered in real time. There's no point in a fight that does not explain something new about the main character. Portions of the fight will show up in flashbacks though.

Kane is the guy who underpaid Junior for information a while back. I always found it weird that Saikhan would support Tarrlok despite respecting Lin enough to give up his position as Chief later on. I'll be exploring that angle a bit. Which is the reason for dedicating the chapter to the cop.

The reason for the worldbuilding regarding the Law enforcement is that I plan to have them feature a little more in this story. A 415-G is police code for Disturbance caused by gangs or gang activity in some parts of the California. That's where I got the 415-T from. You know - T for Triad.

I hope I've made Saikhan's views clear enough. He hates the idea of vigilantes because they only breed chaos and more often than not, die in the process causing more work for the cops. He's annoyed with Tenzin because Tenzin's pacifist policies have the effect of hamstringing the police and breeding more vigilantes who are angry with police incompetence. He wants Jin out of the picture before he causes anymore damage.

 **Next up** : The interrogation, I'll try to make it interesting.

I was thinking of including it in this chapter but I haven't had much time to write. Sadly that's not likely to change soon.

Once again, your views on the chapter and hopefully thoughts on the direction this story will take are appreciated. No promises though.


	14. Chapter 14 - Interrogation

**Warning: Flashbacks in this chapter. Also swearing and violence. But you already knew that last bit.**

 **Chapter 14: Interrogation**

The police arrived soon after the fight, took witness statements and a low ranked officer frogmarched us to the precinct. As for the Agni Kai goons . . . well, I have no clue what happened to those losers. I wonder if the police stopped to collect all the teeth. I guess I'd find out soon enough.

I had been waiting in this tiny room for almost 15 minutes now and frankly, I was starting to get a little nervous. Experienced as I was with police interrogations from my time in the South, it had been a while since I was on this side of the table. And even then, I had no idea what to expect. Legally speaking, my actions today - even the ones that the police actually knew about - weren't exactly beyond reproach. On top of that, I was pretty sure there was a hidden reason for the bold attack next to a precinct and the fact that they tried to provoke me into attacking them first.

I needed to figure out what was going on before I got blindsided.

 **Slam**

I resist the urge to flinch as the cop slammed the door and sat down opposite to me in this . . . conference room.

"You know, this conference room looks a lot like an interrogation room, detective." I quipped, not letting my nervousness leak through.

I was stating the obvious, really. A low hanging light, metal walls, one of which had a mirror, a one way mirror now that I think about it. There was probably someone on the other side, watching this interrogation - because that was clearly what this was.

The officer who brought me into the precinct was a pretty chill guy. One of the good beat cops, no doubt. He congratulated Korra and I on beating up the punks who attacked us and mentioned that we'd be taken to a conference room to give our statement before he called in Detective Kane.

Kane was on the other side of the police spectrum. Despite the fact that I had somewhat expected it, I was annoyed when he separated me from Korra without so much as a "by your leave" and unceremoniously dragged me to this bleak metal cage and sat me down on this rickety chair. From the looks he gave me, I'm certain the asshole considered cuffing my hands to the table.

I'm glad he didn't, though. My nose was itching something fierce - something that happened when I felt I was being _railroaded_. I'd need to think on my feet here.

"That's because it is an interrogation room, smart ass." He replied with disdain, looking through a file.

I couldn't help the minute frown that appeared before I schooled my expression into a polite smile. I didn't think it would have been that easy to get him to admit it. I expected the smarmy git to make some sort of excuse. "All the conference rooms are occupied.", "this is just a formality" or my personal favorite: "We just wanted to make sure we've got the timeline right."

But no, I hadn't expected him to admit to putting a victim in an interrogation room.

I haven't really met this guy before, much less spoken with him. In fact, the only knowledge I had of Detective Kane was that he had stiffed Junior just before I met the streetwise information broker.

I'm not sure why but I knew I didn't like this guy the instant I saw his face. He had that smug face you couldn't help but want to cave in with a crowbar. Fucker.

"And is there a reason I'm in an interrogation room, detective?" I asked politely, containing my irritation.

"Don't play coy. You know exactly why you're here." He snarled at me, slamming the file down as he glared at me.

' _Yeeesh. Someone has anger issues. That was sudden. So what's the way to go here: politely indifferent or politely infuriating or . . . something else?'_

"I'm afraid I have no idea what I'm talking about, detective. I've done nothing wrong."

I chose to go with politely infuriating - for now. The Agni Kai clearly wanted me to get in trouble with the police. It was probably because they had an inside man who could make sure things went as planned. Apparently this bundle of sunshine here was their guy.

' _Or am I over thinking things again?'_ I continued smiling, not giving away my internal monologue.

"Nothing wrong? You just assaulted 4 benders outside a police precinct. Did you _really_ think you could get away with it?" He sneered at me, puffing up self importantly as he shot me the _look_.

Wonderful - a _Bending Elitist_ , looks like my day just got worse. Now I knew why my douchedar was pinging.

Just to be clear, when I'm talking about the look, I'm not talking bedroom eyes here.

I'm talking about the _look_ : the one all elitists had down to a Tee. Think about a facial expression that somehow combined their utter disdain and condescension for the fact that you can't bend the elements, with the outraged disbelief that you've somehow risen above your station in life and finally the disgust they feel for actually having to speak with you. Like, its somehow beneath them.

Yeah, _that_ look _._

Some of the nicer elitists, an oxymoron if there ever was one, had the decency to disguise the _look_ with a hint of pity. This guy was clearly not among those nigh nonexistent numbers.

I had already met quite a few police officers who were dedicated to upholding truth, justice and the Americ - er . . . United Republican way. I suppose that the Law of Averages meant that one of these cockroaches would find their way into Law Enforcement past Beifong's watch.

There had been a number of delusional cockroaches parading this Neo-Nazi bullshit around the Archipelago calling themselves Divine Emperors or Prophets that had to be stamped out with extreme prejudice once the pirates were dealt with and we had a working Council to handle day to day affairs. I should know, I was the "Consultant" the newly formed Law Enforcement had relied on for pest control.

On a side note: It's quite interesting how the word - "Consultant" says absolutely nothing about the job.

' _Oh, the cockroach is speaking. I should probably pay attention. Blah, blah, blah - Know your place in the world. Blah - status quo. Blah - respect for authority and tradition. Blah. I'm an elitist cunt. Blah.'_ I followed along absently.

"You know", I began, cutting Kane off midway, once again infuriating him, if that throbbing vein on his temple was anything to go by. How the egotistical jackass survived under Beifong eluded me. She seemed like a no nonsense type of boss.

"I think you might have missed the course on taking victim statements. You're supposed to sit there, look stupid and note down whatever I say. Is that about to happen anytime soon - or are you just going to yell at me like someone who's been smoking hallucinogens? Because, if you've got no further questions for me, I'm heading out." I said as I got of the chair to leave.

Detective Kane had just the right attitude for someone who might work with the Triads and honestly think he was doing the city a favour, despite whatever guilt he might feel for betraying his badge. I was fairly sure he was in bed with the Triads. I just needed confirmation and his face was going to tell me everything I needed to know.

Reading people.

It wasn't a skillset Charlie had possessed. No, that guy was socially awkward to the extreme.

It was something Cheng Hao had picked up. Abused kids tended to be really good at reading body language and nonverbal cues. I suppose it paid to know whether mouthing off at a particular time might get you a cuff around the head or a twisted arm. Either way, I continued to hone the skill with the help of Gulon, who was a master at the reading people, when I woke up in Cheng Hao's body. It came in handy at the strangest of times.

" **Sit down**. I'm not done." Kane said, _slamming_ his fist on the table.

I complied, maintaining a pleasant smile. It might have been because I had just given his friend's a few booboos or perhaps because I was a non bender that actually had the balls to beat the crap out of benders who were exercising their spiritual right to be douchebags but Kane already seemed fit to burst. All he needed was a few nudges before he snapped - nudges I was happy to provide if it got me to the truth.

Kane took a deep breath and opened the file and pulled out a pencil.

"Are you Jin, from the Southern Republic?" He asked monotonously as if reading from a bank of prepared questions.

"Yes."

"You currently reside on Air Temple Island with your uncle, Councilman Tenzin. Is that right?" He droned, reading from his file.

"Uh-huh."

"Tell me about what happened today, in our own words." Kane ground out the standard questions through clenched teeth.

"Well, Korra and I were just minding our own business when these weirdos in red clothing showed up and started insulting us. So I insulted them back but then the guy with the head that looked like someone's ballsack tried to burn me alive. And then his friends tried to kill me. It was all self defense really." I explained earnestly.

"Self defense? Torch's arm was nearly snapped off at the elbow and his nose was broken, so were several of his teeth. He's going to need a doctor to wire his lower jaw to keep it in place. In what world would you call that self defense?" Kane shouted at me, spittle flying from his mouth.

Torch? Oh yeah, the scrawny guy. Yeah he was an interesting one. You don't often see a bender try close combat unless it's a last resort. I suppose that was an interesting experience.

* * *

 _Apart from initially calling out to Korra and I, the scrawny Firebender had remained aloof as the rest of us exchanged insults. The instant Ganju backhanded Kaiser and tossed the first fireball, Torch burst into motion - running up to Korra and I, igniting his right hand in fire. The flames quickly enveloped his arm before condensing down to his fist and quickly coalesced into the shape of a dagger. Korra stepped forward, raising an earth barrier between the two of us and the Triads but she was a hair too slow. Torch leapt over the wall before it could cut him off and continued running towards me as the attacks from the other two firebenders slammed continuously into the impromptu barrier._

 _I couldn't fault Torch's thought process. Take out the lesser threat first._

 _Although it seems as though I was the lesser threat here._

 _Heh._

 _I had Korra hold the wall up as I dodged the speedy firebender's initial swings until I got a sense for his timing, the fire dagger in his hand almost singed my hair as I prepared. Activating Quicksilver mode for but a brief moment, I caught his forearm on his fifth swing with my right hand, pulled him off balance and twisted sharply, slamming a palm heel into his elbow from the left for good measure._

 _I smirked in savage satisfaction at the audible_ _ **crack**_ _as his elbow gave under the blow and his arm snapped like a twig._

 _The dagger made of condensed flame sputter out of existence as Torch began screaming._

 _But I didn't let go. Not yet. I pulled him closer using his now broken arm eliciting further screams, pivoted around and slammed my elbow into his face with all the torque I could muster._

 _The scrawny little shit dropped like the_ _Bass on a Skrillex Mix_ _._

* * *

"Well, he attacked first. That's self defense, right?" I asked, shrugging in a clueless fashion.

"That's not even - Ughh. Once you . . . defended yourself from Torch. Why did you initiate combat with Ganju. You could have simply run away at that point, couldn't you?"

I frowned inwardly. Not good. He was calming down. I needed to make him angry somehow.

"I suppose I could have, but Korra was reinforcing the wall that kept Ganju from incinerating us while she defended herself from that crazy chick, Keela. If I'd run away, Korra would have probably gotten beaten up. So I put that Ganju fellow to sleep. Trust me, I did the big guy a favor. He looked like he was about to stroke - the poor guy."

* * *

 _Once I beat Torch like a broken drum, I noticed that the wall Korra had raised was crumbling away due to repeated explosive blasts from the other side. Korra's concentration was being diverted by the lightning bolts that Keela kept sending her way. She dodged the one's directed at her and raised shields to block the ones shot at me. The attacks were causing her to lose her grip on the Earth Wall separating me from Ganju._

 _Unlike Keela who had stepped around the wall to attack Korra from an angle, Ganju just stood in place roaring incoherently as he shot fireballs at the earth wall. I had no idea why Ganju hadn't simply stepped around the wall to attack me but didn't waste my time pondering that._

 _Keep that in mind, kids. Anabolic Steroids shrink your brains and your testicles._

 _I had Korra drop the wall and leapt through the crumbling earth and sped towards Ganju, seeing as how Korra had Keela occupied._

 _The bald firebender let loose several more firebolts which I dodged easily as I approached him._

 _"Graaaaah." Ganju yelled out, giving up on his firebending as he threw a flurry of punches the instant I was within arms reach._

 _The problem with that much muscle was that you'd never be able to hit a moving target. Dodging his wide blows, I threw a few of my own but to no avail._

 _Unfortunately, Ganju's use of steroids had done more than just shrink his brain (and possibly his balls). Every single muscle group in his body had turned into tank-like armor plating and my fists were basically pebbles._

 _Exercise and a strict training regimen had given me considerably more strength than anyone with my height and frame had any right to possess but I was still limited by Cheng Hao's body type._

 _Fortunately, there was a way around my current predicament though._

 _I ducked under a wide swing and my fingers blurred with practiced ease, slamming repeatedly into his sides, targeting vital points, twisting around Ganju's swings as he tried to stop me. I stepped back and gleefully watched as Ganju fumbled around - trying to bend, but was unable to. The panicked look on his face was priceless. Without his bending knocking him out was a piece of cake._

* * *

I've never experienced the truly horrible effects of chi blocking myself. See, Chi blocking doesn't exactly work on non benders the way it does on benders.

Sure - it has the same documented effects on the body of a non bender but it isn't the same. Not in the slightest.

A few blows might leave the non benders with some local numbness in the area that was struck. Their muscles weaken and they find themselves unable to muster the strength to move the affected appendages. Enough hits and even a non bender's chi flow gets blocked completely, causing a blackout. But that's about it.

Pretty straightforward right?

Benders though? Whole 'nother story.

From what I've come to understand, benders had this innate connection to their element that allows them to subconsciously channel their chi and bend the elements. I don't know where it came from and doubted I would ever find out but this innate connection either exists as it is from birth or grows with them as they age so most benders don't even realize it exists. It's just something in the back of their mind - like your nose in front of your face.

No, this connection was more than that.

It could be likened to the way your brain takes over your breathing in such a way that you don't even notice it happening.

What chi blocking does when it . . . well . . . blocks chi, is that it somehow cuts off benders from this innate connection to their element. All of a sudden, they feel hollow. A part of them that was always there just isn't anymore - and they are acutely aware of its absence, even before they try to bend and this is where the panic begins. The confirmation that they can't bend brings out a full blown panic attack in three out of four benders. It takes someone with a truly incredible temperament to stay calm when they are chi blocked for the first time. And even then, they are severely hampered by their lack of abilities.

There's something extremely visceral and sadistic about watching a bender lose his abilities. Especially when this bender was trying to deep-fry you. The look on their face when they realized that all the power they were born with, the abilities they had considered their birthright could be taken away with a few measly pokes - was a spectacle I would never tire of seeing.

Watching the panic, the rage, the shame on their faces when it dawned on them that as powerful as they had once been, as tyrannical as their abilities were - they were nothing without them?

Yeah, that gave me a profound sense of satisfaction. It made going through Kai Lee's torturous Chi Blocking Boot Camp worth it.

My contemplation was interrupted by another inquiry from Kane.

"And the last one, Kaiser? He had a severe head injury. Was that self defense too?" Kane asked.

"No."

I watched Kane's face light up at my answer.

Bitch Please.

"That was actually the skinhead. He punched his buddy really hard in the face. There were almost a dozen witnesses who can corroborate that. Speaks to the state of mind of the guys who assaulted me, right? Benders on steroids are really dangerous creatures. Monsters really."

Kane bristled. His hands clenched the file he was holding, denting the metal slightly.

' _There we go. Just a little more.'_

"You've got an answer for everything don't you, Jin?" He asked through clenched teeth, dropping the dented clipboard and letting it fall to the table.

"Innocent people often do, Detective." I shrugged.

What followed were a series of questions that were focused on making me admit that I knew about the attack before hand. I watched him grow angrier with every single one of my answers.

I've got to hand it to the guy. For a bending elitist, he seemed to be holding onto his anger pretty well. I needed to go a little further.

"So you knew _nothing_? I find that hard to believe. Why would the attack happen right outside the police precinct unless _you_ planned it that way?" Kane yelled out, slamming his fist on the table as he gave me the opening I needed.

"I'm afraid you're grasping at straws, Detective. Why would that baldy punch his own buddy in the face hard enough to put him in a coma? I'm afraid fathoming the mind of insane criminals is your job. It's what you are, isn't it?" I said, watching the throbbing vein on his temple pulsate even faster. I smiled.

"A cop, I mean." I continued after a pause, smiling as if I hadn't just insinuated that he was on the Triad payroll. He snapped.

The enraged detective tossed the table aside with a loud thud and grabbed me by the shoulders and shoved me at the wall.

Moment of truth. I stared closely at his face. I didn't like what I saw.

The point of the entire conversation and the nudging was to get past the anger and disdain and find the hint of guilt he had hidden away in that messed up elitist cesspool he had for a subconscious.

All I saw was Rage and Disgust. Not for me though - well not entirely.

He was disgusted at being compared to the Triad. He clearly considered working for them to be below him. But there was not even a slightest sign of the guilt that should have been there for working with criminals and betraying the badge.

Nuts.

So he wasn't with the Agni Kai. He was just a regular douche. So why did the Agni Kai attack me next to the precinct? Why did they provoke me? Who gained from this?

Too many questions popped up in my head and I wasn't getting any answers here. There was no point to continuing this farce.

"You want to get him off me before I break his face?" I asked, looking over Kane's shoulder at the one way mirror.

"No-one's coming kid. I think it's time someone taught you to respect your betters." Kane smirked at me tossing me to the ground and cracking his knuckles.

An unexpected turn of events.

I picked myself off the ground and dusted myself off. Why wasn't there someone watching the interview? There's always someone on the other side of the mirror, reading facial expressions and making notes! I had counted on there being a witness when I twisted this guy into a pretzel . . . in self defense of course.

All of a sudden I felt a profound sense of embarrassment for assuming that things worked here the same way they worked in Arc City.

I had a decision to make: Should I take the beating and walk out a free man or should I beat the crap out of this pretentious fuck and take my chances in court?

My dilemma was resolved when the door slammed open and in walked . . . _Beifong_?

Despite my embarrassment and confusion, I enjoyed watching Kane's expression go from smug to constipated in 0 seconds flat.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I'd like to know your opinion on the mini flashbacks, I've never particularly minded flashbacks in a story but I know that it's a pet peeve for quite a few readers.

Once again, for those who feel that Jin is too powerful. Understand that these are goons who have no _real_ training in using their abilities. There weapons are basically fear and intimidation and an occasional flashy display of bending to reinforce the first two. There might be a select few goons with skill but they are few and far between. Jin will not fight anyone his equal or better until later on.

So _elitists_ , yeah that's a thing in this story. There were hints of it present in the cartoon. At least according to my interpretation.

Let me know what you guys think.


End file.
